Renewing Embers
by RayneXHatake
Summary: With war on the horizon and his sensei's child left behind, Kakashi discovers where his loyalties lie and how far he's willing to go to protect them. "You can't do this on your own son." "Watch me. Even if it means losing everything, I'll protect Naruto."
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to 'Renewing Embers'

My newest brainchild that took many weeks to nurture and feed. It's a different view on the question 'what if Danzo gained control'. Plus it showcases my favorite silver haired men. So happy readings everybody and if you feel the need, leave a review in the review box. Help me tell my stories better!

Disclaimer:I own nothing, absolutely nothing.

* * *

A strong wind blew throughout the slumbering village, whipping around formations of volcanic rock that created a protective cover over a majority of the normally bustling community. The dome covering gave the right amount of protection from the elements, but light was easily obtainable for the crops sown in the front of the village. Said village was settled exactly in the middle of five dormant volcanoes and completely blocked from prying eyes, giving perfect cover for a hidden shinobi village. Every element of the village visible gave no suspicion something else was going on below the dome, making it a refuge for the unwanted, unloved and those who simply didn't want to be found.

Legend claimed that during ancient times one of the volcanoes erupted violently, spewing lava and volcanic ash into the atmosphere and surrounding valley. A small village residing in the valley faced potential extinction because of the lava attempting to pool in the circular valley. The villagers refused to leave their homes, though, because they believed the valley to be holy. Facing death, the men of the village called upon their gods and begged for protection from the blistering lava. Sacrifices were made and offerings given, but the volcano continued erupting. For three days the village was bombarded with ash before the lava began its final journey down the side of the volcano. The people began to lose hope and accepted their fates. Mothers grieved in the streets and children wailed in fear. Then, just as the lava reached the outer boundaries and the people prepared themselves to die, a group of figures emerged from the haze and saved the village by stopping the lava. The figures used a mysterious power to mold the lava upwards, creating a dome-like structure to shield the small village before disappearing in the same mysterious way they appeared.

For years, the tale of the mysterious figures appearing out of the shadows and stopping the lava spread throughout the countryside, giving hope to the hopeless and faith to the faithless. Then one day the stories faded and the villagers disappeared, leaving behind a single child, who told of an inner power that could stop lava and control the wind. A power great enough to create fire and move water. A power that was so immense it took years to control and even longer master. The male child grew up with this knowledge of the special inner power called 'chakra' and passed the knowledge down to his son. He, in turn, used the knowledge to become Daimyo of the nation his father hailed from by selling the sacred information from the mysterious figures to other villages, thus giving birth to the first shinobi villages. The Daimyo unfortunately died before his own young son could be told the compete legend. The old man died taking with him the truth behind the old legend.

The abandoned village was forgotten about until one of the Daimyo's descendants, found an old journal written by his ancestor's hand. It told of the power located at the ancient site and the miracles performed there. With his life fading fast and his granddaughter's life in danger, the old Daimyo called upon his most trusted shinobi guards to revive the power hidden beneath the dome and build a hidden village greater than any ever seen before. His shinobi guards, a band of misfits, untouchables and runaways, agreed out of kindness and gratitude for the generous man who took them in. Together they built a new village from the ruins of the old one and accepted anyone who made the journey over the volcanoes and into the valley. In preparation of his death, the Daimyo, with his young granddaughter by his side, toured the village and gave it what he thought was his final blessing. Thus creating Kazangakure no Sato: The Village Hidden in the Volcanoes.

Then in a mysterious twist of fate, the same village he sponsored to save his granddaughter saved his own life. Though the volcanoes were dormant, underground lava pockets turned the natural springs and rivers that ran from the other side of the volcanoes into hot springs. The therapeutic waters of the springs helped the elderly man greatly and decreased the pain in his body. With the pain leaving his body, his energy was renewed and a new desire to live entered his heart. The medic-nins were baffled at his recovery, but those that grew to call Kazan home knew it was just another one of the land's numerous mysterious miracles.

* * *

Somewhere in a quiet room deep within the heart of Kazan, the sound of a grandfather clock finally reaching midnight rang through the silence, catching the attention of the man sitting behind a rather large oak desk. It's been five years since the old Daimyo asked the captain of his ragtag guard detail to become the Kaijinkage of Kazangakure, the Ash Shadow of the Village Hidden in the Volcanoes. The elderly man still made trips to the village to visit the healing waters of the hot springs, so he saw his ex-captain on almost a monthly basis.

The top of the Kaijinkage's silver hair is barely visible over the piles of paper littering his desk, but as he pushed the papers away to make a small window for himself, the grief and exhaustion is visible in his eyes. Those same dark eyes glisten as he reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle of sake before giving the calendar on his wall a rueful smile. It seemed like the tightness in his chest and the pain in his heart increased every year as the date rolled over from the fourteenth to the fifteenth.

He reached down and pulled out another item from the inside of his desk. It's a picture, taken by him almost eight years ago of his two most precious people in the entire world. One is the laughing face of a five-year-old silver haired little boy and the other is the smiling face of a young woman with curly dark brown hair. She's sitting in a playground swing with the little boy in her lap and her arms wrapped protectively around him. They're both wrapped up tightly in jackets and scarves because winter came early that year and left late taking the life of the brown haired mother. The silver haired man can't remember a colder winter before that one. Even the winters he endured during the Second Shinobi War didn't compare to how harsh and bitter that winter was. He poured himself a glass before raising it toward the picture that sat on his desk, just like it had for the past five years on this night.

"Happy birthday Kakashi."

He raised the sake dish to his lips, but is interrupted before he can take his drink. A man with a long scar running across his chin and dark green hair appeared beside his desk. The symbol on his hitai-ate is strange. It's nothing like Konohagakure's leaf or Iwagakure's rock. Instead the metal plate is stamped with a volcano that is spouting flames. As strange as his hitai-ate is, the tattoo on his arm is even more bizarre. The tattoo engraved onto the man's right arm is the same volcano that resides on his forehead, but the volcano is surrounded by barbed wire. His tattoo identifies him as a protector of the Kaijinkage. Said kage is watching the man with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes and the other man can see the pain more clearly than his kage wants him to.

The green haired man smiled at his old friend, which made the white scar on his face stretch, before picking the bottle of sake off the desk and sniffing it. Though they have been friends for years, he still doesn't know why the sliver haired man enters a deep depression every September fifteenth. Why his friend's shoulders become slumped with grief or why he cuts himself off from the village that loves and respects him. He doesn't know why his kage can't stand to walk the fields because of the lanky scarecrows dotting the horizon. He just doesn't understand what's causing his friend so much pain. So every year he tries his hardest to drag the other away from his thoughts in hopes that this would be the year he finds out the truth.

"Now this isn't that cheap, imported shit you gave those delegates from the capital. This is the good stuff. Holding out on us Sakumo?"

Hatake Sakumo, the once proud White Fang of Konoha, grinned at the man before offering him a seat. The man beside him, Fuijiwara Ryuji, has been his most trusted friend for the past six years. Ever since they stumbled onto each other in the middle of a brutal thunderstorm that nearly ended both of their lives. They have been together through nearly everything and now Sakumo was proud to acknowledge the man as not only captain of his guard detail, but also as his friend.

"No, it's just one of those nights that require the good stuff and that sake wasn't cheap."

Ryuji took in Sakumo's disheveled appearance and the redness of his eyes, but doesn't comment on them. His light brown flowing robes have been thrown carelessly onto the floor beside his desk. The same volcano is imprinted onto the back of the robes, but is barely seen by the folds of the fabric. Sakumo's robe also contains a red triangle pattern around his right sleeve that all of his shinobi wear on their official uniforms. Ryuji remembered picking out the uniforms and Sakumo commenting on how much he likes the red against the brown better than he ever did against the green and white of his Konoha uniform.

Ryuji suddenly noticed the single picture frame on the desk facing towards Sakumo as he sets the sake bottle back on the desk. It made the man wish he noticed it before moving to sit in the plush chair in front of Sakumo's desk because maybe the picture would answer some of his questions.

"Maybe not, but it was imported."

A sincere teasing grin ran across Sakumo's face as he picked up a folder from his desk and tossed it at the man. "The only reason you know that is because you were standing beside me when I was bartering with the merchants."

Ryuji shrugged before catching the folder and shuffling it in his hands. An ingenious plan entered his mind as he looked between the folder in his hands and the picture frame. With one swift toss he could knock the frame over and then, under the guise of a caring friend, pick the picture up to make sure the glass wasn't broken. That would give him enough time to see what was on the picture and hopefully get his friend to talk about the reason for his moodiness.

The green haired man had once been described as a monster on the battlefield, fearless and powerful, but in the face of knocking over a simple picture frame, he's terrified. Every man is entitled to his secrets, but as a good friend, Ryuji fears Sakumo will only waste away underneath his. Every year the fifteenth of September gets worse and worse for Sakumo. Though Ryuji believed the other man would never take his own life, he knows that bottling everything up is never healthy and always explosive when it finally comes out. He tells himself that he's doing this for Sakumo's own good

He took a quick breath before seeming to carelessly toss the folder at the picture frame. It hits its mark and knocks the picture over. Sakumo tensed before making a wild grab and trying to catch the frame. His attempt tips the picture backwards where the two happy faces are facing upwards and in plain sight of Ryuji. The panic is clear in Sakumo's eyes as Ryuji slowly picked the frame up and stared at the people on there. He flicked his eyes up to Sakumo's only to find the man has buried his face into his hands. It's now or never for Ryuji. If he doesn't question Sakumo about it now then he may never help his friend.

"Sakumo, who are they?"

Silence met Ryuji's ears for the first few minutes before the sound of the sake dish hitting the polished wood of the desk broke the silence. Sakumo finally finished his drink and it sits bitterly in his stomach.

"Sakumo?"

He looked up as a few tears slip from underneath his eyelids. Ryuji is stunned silent at the look of pure anguish in Sakumo's eyes. His mouth opened a few times, but no words came out. He reached over and poured himself another cup of sake before downing that quickly. His mouth opened again and Sakumo found himself not being able to stop his emotions from controlling his words. He was tired of the pain eating at him constantly and needed to let it out.

"Ryuji, I thought I could leave their memories behind and pretend they never existed, but I can't. I can't forget them no matter how much I drink or how deep I sleep. Their faces and voices haunt my dreams and sometimes I feel like they're waiting for me right around the corner. Do you know how disappointing it is to look around that corner and see nothing but an empty corridor?"

Ryuji shook his head as he sat back down in the chair, his entire attention captivated by the raw emotion in Sakumo's voice. He sounded weary and older than his years in that moment. He hastily found his voice and repeated his question in a softer voice, one he would have used for a child.

"Sakumo, who are they?"

Sakumo sighed before reaching over and pointing at the faces on the glossy paper. "The little boy is my son, Kakashi, and the woman is my wife, Ai. Well, late wife. Kakashi's five in this picture and Ai's four months away from dying in a lonely hospital miles from home."

Ryuji can't resist asking the questions he has wanted to ask since first meeting Sakumo. "How did she die?" The wedding band Sakumo kept around his neck with his dog tags had always caught his attention and he wanted to know the mystery behind it. Most of the village did too; it was a village wide mystery. Some believed it was the wedding band for a lover that jilted their leader at the altar and others believed it was the ring of one of his friends from Konoha. He couldn't believe how wrong they were. No one would have guessed their leader was a widower, even though that was the most plausible explanation.

Sakumo sighed before mentally preparing himself to answer Ryuji's question. He didn't see the need to stop answering because it actually felt good to say the things he had been dying to tell him for years. The tightness in his chest was receding and for the first time in years he felt like he was breathing again.

"She was a medic-nin back in Konoha and was called on during a horrible outbreak of scarlet fever during November of the year Kakashi turned five. She was so busy working at the hospital and trying to keep Kakashi from catching the disease that she didn't take very good care of herself. A deadly combination with the winter being so harsh and illness flourishing so rapidly, she got really sick toward the end of November and just couldn't get better. Ai was a medic-nin, so she thought she could take care of herself, but the exhaustion coupled with all the sickness she came into contact with just wore her body down. She developed double pneumonia and by the time the other medics found out she was too far gone for them to do anything for her. She died before the end of December. We were devastated, especially Kakashi."

Ryuji tried to ignore the weakness in Sakumo's voice and the pure emotion coming from his words, but they're too strong to ignore. He reached over and took the sake from Sakumo's desk. There was no way he was going to make it through this without something to calm his nerves.

"I can imagine you were both upset. I'm so sorry Sakumo. What happened to Kakashi?"

Sakumo reached for the sake that now rested in Ryuji's hand. There was a strange look on Sakumo's face as he drank straight from the bottle. "He grew up, became a shinobi and made me prouder than any father's ever been of their son."

Ryuji stood up quickly and began pacing the floor. "Then why isn't he here? Where is he?"

Sakumo took a long breath and looked deep into the nearly empty bottle of sake. "Don't know. I haven't seen him in almost six years."

The room was silent again and the soft sound of the wind rustling the dust from the ground outside the window could be heard. "_What_!"

"No need to yell, you'll alert the other guards and I would really like to finish this story without everyone finding out. You've been my sidekick for so long and this has eaten at me for years. I can't stop now Ryuji, because I need to let go. So you're just going to have to listen, if you're willing."

Ryuji sat back down and got comfortable in the chair as Sakumo began his tale.

"After I lost Ai, I was almost desperate for anything to take my mind off of my loss. The first couple of months were really hard on me. I kept expecting her to run into the house with that crooked smile and a funny story about something that happened at the hospital, but she never came back through that door. I didn't know how to handle it. We had no warning; just an ANBU showing up at the front door and informing me my wife was dead and that I needed to come identify the body before they cremated her. I didn't even know she was sick until after the fact. She had been sleeping at the hospital so she wouldn't bring the fever home with her."

Ryuji averted his eyes as Sakumo wiped away a few stray tears. "I was so angry at first and nothing I did would take my anger away. Kakashi was the only light in my life at that time. He had graduated from the Academy just a few short months before Ai died, so he wasn't much help as far as taking my mind off of her was concerned. He was too busy learning to be a shinobi and I was too busy shoving my grief deep down into my heart."

Ryuji smirked at his friend as he tried to lighten the mood. "Well, that hasn't changed much."

Sakumo rolled his eyes at the green haired man before continuing, "I began trying to take any and every mission they would give me, but Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, cut me off because he was afraid I was going to work myself to death. He told me that I couldn't outrun my grief and needed to face my wife's death. Instead of listening to him, though, I stormed out of his office and sullenly took a mandatory vacation. I thought I was going to go crazy sitting at home."

"Where was Kakashi?"

"When he was there I spent every second with him I could. I did everything with him that we used to do together before his mother died. We went fishing, trained, I taught him to cook and we bonded. Kakashi wasn't there the entire time, though, because he had training and missions with his Sensei. Those were some of my darkest moments because I was alone and had time to actually think. It never ended well and I usually ended up nursing whatever alcoholic beverage I could find. That is until Danzo came along."

Sakumo stood up and walked over to a filing cabinet along the wall. He reached inside and pulled out a single folder marked with the Konoha leaf emblem. He pulled out a picture of a man and handed it to Ryuji.

"That's Danzo. Possibly the single most manipulative man in the entire shinobi nations."

Ryuji took in the man's appearance. He was an older man and didn't look like he would pose a huge threat in a battle-like situation. "He looks pretty serious, but I think I could take him. I'd feel guilty though and probably tie one of my hands behind my back to even the playing field."

Sakumo shook his head in disbelief at Ryuji before continuing, "Don't let his appearance fool you. He played me for a fool and fights dirty."

Ryuji waved the picture around. "This man played you? Were you drunk? He looks like someone's grandfather. Did he hit you with his cane?"

"No, he used what I wanted against me. He offered me the missions the Third refused to give me. I do admit I should have seen his treachery, but I trusted him. I did his biding and went on missions that didn't always seem fair or safe, but I was able to escape just a little bit from my pain. He had permission from the Third to develop this new organization he called ROOT and he asked me to help get it off the ground. I agreed and went on these missions to recruit and strike fear into our enemy's hearts. It worked well for a while, until it got to a point where I couldn't remember my wife's name or even that I had a son. Then Danzo tried putting a seal on my tongue to keep me from talking about the organization. That was when I took a break from Danzo's missions. He seemed really compliant with my request and let me go without a fuss."

"I'm guessing that he didn't stay compliant?"

Sakumo nodded as his eyes glazed over in remembrance. "He set me up. After a while, the Third gave me an important mission that would prevent Konoha from going into what was becoming the Third Shinobi War. I was ready and willing to prevent any type of war because I didn't want my son growing up like I did. He was already a chunin by this time and I knew he would be on the battlefield if I failed this mission, all of Konoha would be. The night before I left, Danzo appeared at my house. I'll never forget it because Kakashi was sleeping on the couch and Danzo walked over and ran a hand through his hair before declaring it was a shame Kakashi was an only child. I felt this stone drop into my stomach at that moment and ignored it. Danzo then informed me that I had a separate mission from the others in my team. He wanted me to observe my teammates because they were believed to be potential traitors to Konoha."

Ryuji looked skeptical, "And you believed him?"

Sakumo threw his hands up in frustration. "I trusted him, Ryuji, and he said the Hokage gave the mission the okay. You have to understand, I was a little bit naïve when it came to my leaders. Danzo was a respected man in Konoha that was given permission by the Third to develop ROOT. I had no reason to disbelieve him, especially considering one of my teammates was the son of Iwagakure immigrants and another had spent four days in an Iwa camp alone. I had every right to believe he was speaking the truth."

"I'm assuming that you failed the original mission and someone didn't like that too well."

Sakumo snorted with anger, "You can say that again. The mission was a simple infiltration and assassination of one of Iwa's major tactical planners. They would have been crippled with his death and we would have easily won the war. I did everything I was supposed to do and watched them constantly because I wanted so badly for our intelligence department to be wrong. I watched them so closely that it cost us the other mission. We returned home, weakened and angry with each other. As we gave the mission report they informed the Hokage of my botching the mission and I couldn't deny it because I was too excited about my observations proving my teammates innocence. I had never seen him so mad in my entire life. I tried telling him about Danzo's second mission to which he summoned the elder and questioned him about it."

Sakumo briefly closed his eyes. "He claimed he said no such thing and that I was cowardly for making up such stories. I had no proof of it because no one knew of my missions with ROOT and no one knew of Danzo's visit. I could only take the blame and wait for Konoha's decision."

"Damn, Sakumo. That's some really heavy shit."

"Oh it gets worse. The Konoha Council eventually decided that I wasn't good enough for a traitor's death because I cowardly tried to pin the blame on Danzo. They demoted me to chunin, suspended me for two months and banned me from leading a mission ever again. That wasn't the worst part, though. The village turned its back on me. I was a traitor in their eyes and treated accordingly. I couldn't even go to the marketplace because of the hatred thrown my way. I hated my life and was officially an outcast. It was hard being the village pariah. "

Ryuji shook his head in disbelief, "What about Kakashi?"

A single tear found its way down Sakumo's cheek as he thought back over his young son and the anger in his eyes the last time they talked. "He was told what to believe by the villagers and other shinobi. They turned their anger from me onto him. If Namikaze Minato, his Sensei, wouldn't have been with him while they were in the village then I don't doubt someone would have tried to seriously harm my son. He was so angry and ashamed of me. The last time we talked, he told me that he hated me and wished I would have died instead of his mother. That was when I made my decision."

"What did you decide?"

"I was going to fake my death and burn the memory of Hatake Sakumo from Konoha forever. I had everything planned out, I was going to burn the house down and leave a suicide note in the scroll containing Kakashi's items. I had enough explosives in the house to destroy it completely. I even planned for it to happen while Kakashi was on a two week mission. What I didn't expect, though, was Kakashi coming home early just as I was getting ready to light the explosives. It was a scary thing thinking that my son was in the house while I was getting ready to blow it up. I quickly cast a very strong genjutsu over him where he would see my body laid out so it wouldn't raise any questions from him later. I waited until he saw my body in the genjutsu before stunning him and carrying him from the house. I blew it up and never looked back."

Ryuji took a deep breath. "Never?"

"I looked back once just to see Kakashi one last time and to give him one last gift." Sakumo reached into his white cotton shirt and pulled out the chain holding his dog tags and a gold ring. It shined beautifully as the light from the room hit it. "This is my wedding ring. Being a shinobi, I usually kept it around my neck to keep it from getting broken or lost. Ai, though, always wore hers around her finger, underneath her gloves. When I identified her body her wedding ring was the only personal item they allowed me to keep. Everything else had to be destroyed just in case there was something that could fall into the wrong hands and harm Konoha. Ai's ring is identical to mine, except hers is inscribed on the inside with a small message. _Wherever you are, I'll be."_

Ryuji nodded in understanding, "Is that something significant?"

Sakumo smiled gently, "Yeah, Ai and I started dating during the Second Shinobi War. We were away from each other more than we were together. The phrase kind of became our way of saying goodbye without actually saying the words. Goodbyes are final and we never wanted our relationship to stop, funny how something as simple as an illness finally halted our love." Sakumo swallowed thickly. "I put Ai's ring in the scroll containing Kakashi's things. Then I looked at my son one last time. It's a memory forever burned into my brain. I can see him lying on the greenest April grass with his silver hair shining out from the patches of green. He looked like some fallen angel, very tragically beautiful. I disappeared from the village and you know the rest. I joined with the daimyo and wandered around until I ran into your lazy butt and we started our adventure together."

A part of Ryuji wanted to reach over, clap Sakumo on the back, and shout out 'and what an adventure it's been,' but the timing wasn't right. Sakumo was still buried deep in his memories and would be until the next day. He had opened up a lot of old wounds and now it was time to fully heal them. Ryuji looked at the clock and saw the hands showing three in the morning. It was more than past time for Sakumo to get some sleep if he expected to function the next day.

"Come on, Sakumo, let's call it a night."

Sakumo nodded before picking up the picture of his family and placing it back into his desk drawer before rising to his feet. It would sit there another year before he looked at it again. He refused to torture himself with something he was never going to have again. He stopped, though, to look back at the closed desk drawer and whispered a final 'happy birthday' to his son. His eyes then trailed down his chest to the gold ring resting against the white shirt. He sighed tiredly before tucking the ring back into his shirt and disappearing into the darkness of the hallway.

* * *

"Come on Kakashi! You're only thirteen once!"

A lanky teen stood in his apartment doorway with his pajama bottoms clinging to his skinny hips and wiry muscles standing out on his uncovered arms. An eye patch covered up the first and last gift his deceased teammate gave him. It itched and watered even after the months that have passed since the incident. It still hurt deep inside Kakashi's chest whenever he thought about Uchiha Obito.

A smiling blond haired man is staring happily at his only male student. It's three o'clock in the morning and the September weather is chilly, but not overbearing. He's practically jumping up and down in excitement over his student's birthday. His lover through, with her pregnant belly hanging low with child, isn't as joyous. In fact, Kushina looks like she's going to hit Minato if he doesn't calm down. Even though she doesn't look too happy to be up, she still holds a box containing a small birthday cake for the teen. She quickly turns away from the bouncing blond to the annoyed silver haired teen. "Happy birthday Kakashi! I made a cake for you."

Another happy face appeared beside Kushina and giggled as Kakashi took the cake thrust into his hands. It's Rin, his only surviving teammate, and she's holding a small box clamped tightly in her hands. She looks like she's about to pass out from embarrassment as she steps forward and holds out the box.

"I-I noticed the other day that your chain was breaking around the clasp. I thought it would be nice if you could replace it."

A ghost of a smile appeared underneath Kakashi's mask as he took the cake from the red haired woman and shifted it to hold in one hand. He took the box from Rin in his free hand before murmuring a low 'thanks' and blushing hotly as Rin ran over and kissed his cheek. Minato let out a teasing catcall before attempting to pull Kakashi out of his apartment doorway. Kakashi dug his heels into the floor and shook his head furiously. Hoping his blush was disappearing.

"Sensei, come back in daylight, not at three in the morning. Normal people are asleep at this time."

Minato gave Kakashi an accusing look before slinging his arm around Kushina's growing waist. "'kashi! We all know this family is nowhere near normal. Our little Naruto isn't going to have a snowball's chance in Hell of being normal."

Kushina snorted in laughter before wrapping her arms around her pregnant stomach, "My poor baby boy, let's just hope he gets my looks."

"Hey!"

Kakashi smiled and compromised by inviting them into his apartment. It wouldn't be good for Kushina to stay out in the chilly weather with her being so close to giving birth. As Kakashi began to close the door to his apartment, he couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Slowly his hand snaked up to clutch at the faint outline of a ring against his sleeveless nightshirt, its coolness felt crisply against his chest. He simply shook it off and walked into his apartment to find Kushina raiding his ramen supply. They may not have been his biological family, but they were the closest thing he had and that was good enough for him. Nothing could ruin his newfound happiness.

* * *

Famous last words? I have that feeling too.

So if you have any questions, pop them in a review and I will try to answer them. Kazan is a different place from Konoha and I hope everyone is getting that from the first chapter.

Taking this time I would like to thank a really good friend of mine, Chacha1, for editing this chapter. If there is a mistake in here then I added it sometime after she edited it. ;P

Until Next Time,

'Rayne


	2. Chapter 2

I am amazed. I didn't expect so many reviews for the first chapter. My other stories usually started off slower than this, so I'm very happy of the response! I've tried my hardest to pay attention to the little details and I hope everything is being painted nicely in your mind's eye. This isn't the regular, 'Sakumo lives' type of story. It's a darker undertone kind of story and should have a lot of action. Naruto does play a huge part in the story, but comes later.

Without further ado, happy readings! Please leave some feedback for me, it helps me write faster and helps me see if I have any mistakes or plot holes running through here. So Thanks for everything and here's the chapter.

Disclaimer: What does Rayne own in this story? Nothing!

* * *

**Four months later….**

Searing pain raced across the young boy's arm and twisted his stomach into knots as the masked shinobi brutally repeated the stabbing motion onto his left arm. The smell of ink and blood was heavy in the air as the needle permanently marked him as one of the mysterious elite. Everything about the thirteen-year-old screamed danger and discipline. His back was ramrod straight against the chair while his eyes bore straight ahead, betraying no emotion. Hands were rested against the wooden arms of the chair, but his fists didn't clench or twitch as the needle met its mark over and over again. In fact, the entire time the necessary torture went on, the teen didn't even flinch. His body seemed numb to the pain and world around him.

Another masked figure, a kunoichi from the looks of the tattoo on her right arm, circled the two shinobi and whispered the oath he would live 'til his dying day. The oath every member of the elite Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai was required to take.

"You are ANBU Wolf. You have no emotions. You have no family. You have no friends. You have no ties to the outside world, except the desire to serve your Hokage. You will serve your Hokage without question and never doubt his orders. We are the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, ANBU. We live in the shadows and protect from them. Nothing gets past us lest our weakness cause Konoha to fall. You are not allowed to have a weakness. Do you understand Wolf?"

The silver haired teen with eyes as black and piercing as burning coals nodded once as the other man slapped a hand harshly onto the swirling tattoo newly engraved on his left arm. It stung, but the pain didn't register in his mind. He was ANBU and ANBU never showed their weakness because they didn't allow themselves to have weaknesses. Truth be told, he had been in ANBU unofficially for years, but was refused official admittance on the Third Hokage's orders that children shouldn't be in the bloodthirsty world of ANBU. A contradiction in itself, ANBU wasn't supposed to have any preference on age, but something told Kakashi the Third had ulterior reasons behind keeping him out.

For Hatake Kakashi that wasn't an order he followed exactly. He found ways around the Third with Danzo's help. The man truly wanted Kakashi in ANBU and did everything he could to make it happen. From the secret missions given behind trees in the training grounds to coded messages in lower ranked missions, Danzo made sure Kakashi got the difficult missions he desired. In return, Kakashi gave Danzo his loyalty. Something that used to only belong to Minato.

A dull pain rang through Kakashi's heart, sharper than anything else he felt during his brutal ANBU entrance exam. Even the broken bone in his foot didn't hurt as much as the pain the thought of Minato brought him. His family was gone, snatched away by the flesh burning claws of the Kyuubi. It was a thought that still brought disbelief into Kakashi's hardening heart. None of his remaining precious people survived intact. Minato and Kushina were both long since buried, both losing their lives the night of the attack. Minato by saving Konoha from the terrible beast and Kushina by giving birth to the baby that helped save Konoha. Rin was long gone too, her body charred beyond recognition. Even little Naruto, whom Kakashi had only seen in passing, was now forced to grow up with the stigmata of being a jinchūriki. There was no telling how the village would react to learning the truth. Kakashi had already seen firsthand the anger directed towards even the mention of Naruto.

Now with Konoha in ruins and chaos running free in the streets, they needed ANBU Wolf. The village needed someone to give them a sense of comfort and keep up the village's facade of strength. They couldn't allow themselves to seem weak to other nations during this time. Their beloved Fourth Hokage may be dead, but the village was strong with the will of fire. A will that burned dimly in Kakashi as he waited in the cramped and dark ANBU housing quarters for his newest orders. He was less than two hours away from another bloody assassination mission. His life was changing just like the village was. A change of Hokage usually meant a change in everything. No longer would Kakashi serve the Third Hokage, not when a Fifth was chosen to take the sickly Hokage's place.

It was a grim situation, even more so with the sudden illness of the Third Hokage just a month after losing the Fourth, leaving the Fire Country Council with the decision on whom to name as the newest Hokage. Though most of the council supported one of the Third's students becoming Hokage, the Fire Daimyo believed another would make a much better Hokage than a pervert or alcoholic gambler. His choice was easy, especially with the gentle whispering in his ear and rather large purse of money sitting beside his bedside table. Shimura Danzo was named Fifth Hokage of Konoha in the hopes that he would make the village strong once more. Kakashi now answered to Danzo.

"Wolf, it's time."

A quick nod of his head acknowledged the sudden appearance of his teammate. Quickly Kakashi disappeared from the room, the gust of air being enough to knock a stack of papers off of the desk. As the papers fell, they took a silver chain with them. The ring attached to the chain hit the floor before rolling underneath the small bed.

The next five months passed by in a torrent of bloody memories and painful injuries. Wolf buried himself deep into ANBU and lived his life by surviving from one suicide mission to the next. As his missions grew bloodier, his fame grew greater. His codename was being whispered in the shadows as he quickly gained the title of the Bloody Wolf of ANBU. Other shinobi nations feared the bite of Konoha's invisible wolf and taught their shinobi to run if they even thought they caught sight of him. Wolf prowled Konoha's hunting grounds and made sure no one threaten his den. The lone wolf, though, possessed a hidden soft spot for a little blond haired infant that resided in Konoha.

Wolf fought to protect not only Konoha, but Uzumaki Naruto, the infant child of his sensei, Namikaze Minato. He fought for the right to see Naruto and keep the child safe. His wishes went unanswered. Danzo would not permit him approval to visit with Naruto. The rejection made Kakashi's chest ache during his many sleepless nights, but a part of him knew it was for the best. He was better suited for ANBU and would give no comfort or warmth to a child that deserved the sunlight. Even though Kakashi had only caught a small glimpse of Naruto, he knew the child would inherit both of his parent's sunny personalities. He liked to imagine that Naruto was making some caretaker very happy with his smiles and babblings.

As Kakashi laid on his tiny bed in the ANBU headquarters, he couldn't help but think over the past nine months. Everything had happened so fast. Little Naruto was eight-months-old now, almost a full year old and Kakashi still hadn't had any contact with him. It hurt to think of what could have been with the baby, but his ANBU training forced him to push those thoughts out of his mind. His chance at a happy family was gone now. ANBU was the only thing he needed. Naruto was slowly becoming just another thought in the recess of Kakashi's mind. He had to fight daily to remember the golden haired child. Danzo demanded that Kakashi leave Naruto alone so he could focus on his training and Kakashi found himself conforming to Danzo's order. His Hokage gave him a direct order and as ANBU, he had to follow it. That didn't mean he had to like it though.

Danzo's first eight months in office had definitely been interesting, if Kakashi had to say so himself. Since the Kyuubi attack, the village was thriving, but there was a darkness festering below the surface that Kakashi didn't like. It was subtle, but recognizable enough to make Kakashi notice it, especially now since he was in ANBU and spent more time watching the village than anything else. Shortly after Danzo became Hokage he told the entire village of the truth behind the Kyuubi's defeat. They didn't take it very well and immediately called for Naruto's death. Danzo calmed the revolting masses and promised they would be protected from the jinchūriki. At the time of the announcement to the village, Kakashi had been knee deep in bodies as he tried to fight his way out of a rebel camp.

Once the anger died down over Naruto, random children began going missing from their bedrooms and distraught parents were ignored only to be told later that their children were receiving special training. The children were eventually returned to their families, cold and deadly, but powerful. All of the academy senseis were being replaced and retrained. The academy was introducing new and harder material, but surprisingly seeing a higher graduation rate than before. Children shinobi were taking the field with incredible calm and skill. Older shinobi were being put on rigorous training regimes that brought the body to near exhaustion. Konoha was becoming a new village with a booming economy and strong warriors. Nearly all of Konoha's poverty was gone and the war orphans were being taken care of without putting a strain on the village funds. The standard of living rose and peace was felt in every part of Konoha. Kakashi had to admit, even though Danzo had his moments of rage, he really did bring about good for Konoha.

His moments of rage though, were bad enough to cancel out all the good. Kakashi still felt an ache in his arm on cold mornings from where Danzo had his arm snapped for showing up late to a mandatory training session with his ANBU squad. It also wasn't unusual for public punishments like whippings and the occasional branding to take place now. Danzo ran Konoha with a firm hand and didn't take kindly to mess-ups. As ruthless as Danzo was, no one wanted him to step down from power because he was giving them the one thing they wanted, peace. Too many years of war and death had left the villagers weary of everything associated with war. They simply wanted to be away from the pain of war and Danzo offered them a way out. He offered them salvation and the only thing he asked for in return were warriors to help maintain that peace.

"Wolf, Danzo-sama wishes to see you."

Kakashi nodded and quickly prepared himself to meet with Danzo. He always made sure he was never late when Danzo called a meeting.

* * *

Danzo had completely rearranged the office Kakashi knew very well from many nights staying up with Minato trying to help with his paperwork. A part of Kakashi was glad that the room was so different because his chest didn't ache when he walked into the room. Unwanted memories didn't pop up whenever he stared at the objects in the room because none of them meant anything to him. Instead of the sunny demeanor that used to surround the room, blackness swallowed it up. Kakashi resisted the urge to shiver every time he came into Danzo's office because of the coldness in the room. That didn't stop his face from twitching underneath his three masks though. The two cloth ones and the porcelain one.

Danzo grinned at Kakashi from across the room. "Wolf, your last mission was a complete success. You're going far beyond any expectations everyone had for you."

"Thank you sir."

Danzo nodded before shuffling papers around on his desk and picking a scroll up. "I have a mission for you Wolf. It's for the assassination of Kazuma Sayuri, daughter of one of our Daimyo's rivals. Should be quick and easy."

Kakashi took the scroll and scanned over it. The assassination was a cut and dry case, until Kakashi looked at the age of the target. The little girl was just a few days shy of her fourth birthday. He flicked his eyes up slowly because he could feel Danzo's eyes on him. All he had to do was kill the girl and leave. No problem there, he had killed children before. ANBU operatives took the dirtiest of missions and killing a child or infant wasn't unusual for Kakashi. If you truly wanted to hurt someone, you always went for their children.

"Sir, permission to speak."

Danzo nodded, "Permission granted."

"I know we've talked about this before, but is there any way I can be assigned guard duty over Minato's son? I've proven myself multiple times and I know I'm able to perform my ANBU duties and watch him."

Kakashi locked eyes with Danzo as the man took in his question. "No, it's not possible. I need you in the field, not babysitting the jinchūriki."

"Naruto."

Danzo blinked, "What?"

"I said, his name is Naruto."

Danzo dropped the papers on his desk and stared harshly into Kakashi's eyes. "Perhaps I need to keep you away from _Naruto_ because obviously the thought of your Sensei's child makes your tongue become uncontrollable. If I would have wanted the child's name, then I would have asked. Should I call someone to teach you about insubordination? Your actions here just showed me that you obviously don't know how to speak to your superiors. Now, I've told you multiple times 'no' so please don't bring it up again."

Kakashi was determined not to flush at Danzo's words, but the anger stirred in his heart. He had every right to see Naruto, that baby was his only family. Kakashi closed his eyes as he thought back to his oath; he had no family, not even Naruto. He hardened his heart towards the thought of the blond haired baby. If he wanted to stay in control, he needed to forget about Naruto for now.

"I apologize Danzo-sama, another outburst like that won't happen again."

"Get going, your mission starts now."

Kakashi nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke and reappearing in his tiny ANBU apartment. He grabbed his weapons and quickly left Konoha's gates for a small town bordering the outside of Fire Country. The Daimyo had many rivals for his title and to ensure the current one stayed in power, measures were taken to scare the others away.

Wolf glided through the blackened trees making no sound as his feet landed on the thick bark. As soon as he left Konoha his ANBU personality took over and Wolf ran the show. Kakashi was buried somewhere deep inside. His katana was strapped securely to his back and added a pleasant and comforting weight that calmed his nerves. He wasn't nervous about the mission because he knew it would be simple. There was just something off about his mission details. The description of little Sayuri was strikingly similar to the description of the Fire Daimyo's own daughter, Yuki. They both had the same wavy black hair, same blue eyes and were the same age. It just seemed really suspicious to Kakashi for the two girls to be so similar.

Danzo was known for his sneaky ways and Wolf couldn't help but wonder if little Sayuri was actually Yuki. It didn't make any sense, though, why Danzo would order Yuki's death, especially considering how attached the Daimyo is to the little girl. The Fire Daimyo's wife was unable to have any more children because of the stress on her body, leaving Yuki as the only heir to the Daimyo's line and wealth. He doted on the girl, something Kakashi saw firsthand when he went to the capital as Minato's guard when the man was alive. Something about this mission left a bitter taste in Wolf's mouth.

All too soon he appeared before the two-story house where his target lived. He watched from the shadows as the little girl bounced around the house and played happily with her toys. She did look a lot like Yuki, but Wolf still wasn't one hundred percent sure the little girl was her. For the next three hours Wolf watched as Sayuri played with the maids and allowed them to dress her for bed. Once the girl was in bed and being read to by one of the maids, Wolf began his entrance into the house.

He slowly maneuvered his way through an open window on the second floor of the house and crouched in the shadows as servants bustled around. He stayed in the darkness as he made his way to the little girl's room. Not that he needed to stay quiet. His earlier surveillance of the house showed that there wasn't a single guard on the property. He approached the open door of the little girl's room and entered quietly as the two females chatted on the bed. The elder maid was telling the little girl about the exciting party her father had planned for her the next day. He waited patiently for the maid to leave so he could complete his mission and go home.

"Your daddy has planned you a great big party, with balloons, ponies and magicians and all sorts of other fun things. Are you excited sweetie?"

The little girl bobbed her head quickly before giving the woman a toothy grin. "Daddy be there?"

"Of course! It's not every day his little girl turns four."

Wolf wanted to gag at the false hope and happiness in the woman's voice, but it was enough for the girl to lie down happily. Wolf hoped he was never that needy when he was four, but that brought up unwanted memories too, which didn't have a place on this mission. The girl slowly drifted to sleep as the maid left the room, walking right by Wolf in the shadow of the room. He waited as the girl tossed and turned before stilling completely. The moon shown beautifully through the window and bathed the room in light as Kakashi stepped from his hiding place and began taking out a length of rope. It was the type of rope that wouldn't break the skin, but the small size would cut off the air supply easily and quickly. The girl wouldn't suffer as she died, she probably wouldn't even feel it.

He walked over and looked at the vulnerable little girl sleeping without a care in the world. Her only offense being that she was related to a political figure and had to be made an example of. Wolf doubted the girl ever did anything worse than refusing to pick up her toys. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he leaned over her bed and gently wrapped the rope around her neck. The rope tightened and the girl's piercing blue eyes opened in shock and surprise. Her mouth opened to let out a scream, but with her air supply cut off, she couldn't make a sound. She thrashed in her bed and knocked against the wall, forcing Wolf to have to clamp his hand over her nose and hold her tightly to her bed. Her small body continued to convulse for a few more minutes until finally stilling.

Wolf knew he would be sick later, but he needed to get out of the house before the maids came back into the room to check on Sayuri. He took off, blindly running from the room and out the window. Just as he jumped from the window and left the grounds, a chilling scream came from the house. One of the maids had gone into the room to check on the girl after she heard the banging and the name she screamed would haunt Kakashi for the rest of the night.

"YUKI!"

Kakashi ran blindly from the grounds and didn't stop until he knew he was close to the village gates. Only then he stopped by a small creek to vomit violently as he thought over his mission. Yuki, he assassinated the Fire Daimyo's only daughter. Was it an error in the mission details? Or was there something more sinister going on here? Kakashi vomited again and groaned as the stomach acid burned his throat and nose. He couldn't get the sight of those blue eyes out of his head. They were so similar to the blue eyes of his beloved Sensei. Kakashi cupped some of the water from the creek and washed his face off. He washed out his mouth and stood to finish his journey to the village. Once inside the village, he immediately went to see Danzo.

The morning's first rays were barely peeking over the horizon, but Danzo was still up. He was waiting for Kakashi to return and wasn't disappointed when the boy appeared in his office suddenly.

"Report, shinobi!"

Danzo waited, but Kakashi remained silent. Then he spoke in a soft voice as he removed his ANBU mask. "Something was wrong with the mission details. Kazuma Sayuri wasn't the target there, but Yuki, the Fire Daimyo's daughter was. I didn't realize until after the fact that the girl I thought was Sayuri was actually Yuki."

Danzo nodded, "So the target is dead? Your mission is complete then."

Kakashi blinked, "Sir, the Fire Daimyo's daughter is dead."

"And? Your mission is complete then."

Kakashi stood in stunned silence as he watched Danzo mark the mission as completed. Just what the Hell was going on. Danzo looked up at him and sighed before waving him forward.

"Kakashi, take a seat. I've always been partial to you mostly because of your shinobi genius, but also because of your loyalty. Since you completed phase one of my plan, I feel like I should let you in on the entire plan. If you help me reach my goal, I'll make you a man of great wealth and status. No one will even remember that Hatake Sakumo was your father because all they will think about is your power and they will respect you for it."

Kakashi listened closely to Danzo's speech before agreeing, anything to keep his name separate from Hatake Sakumo.

"I'm going to overthrow the Fire Daimyo and gain his title."

Both of Kakashi's eyes widened, his Sharingan spinning in the morning light. Danzo was planning a coup d'état. He was planning to rebel against the Fire Daimyo. It was a hard pill to swallow, but he couldn't resist wondering exactly how Danzo was going to accomplish that feat.

"How?"

Danzo smirked, "Now that his daughter is dead, he'll slowly fall into a depression. While he's at his lowest, I'll take care of him and gain his title. It'll be quick, easy and painless." Danzo spread his arms across the map on his desk. "Come look, Kakashi, at my plan to have Konoha as the capital of all the shinobi nations. If my plan succeeds, a treaty will be drawn up among the great shinobi nations that will bring us together. With Konoha being at the center, of course."

Kakashi peered over the side of the desk and looked at the map with multiple shapes outlined on it. Fire Country was one of the largest shapes, with Sunagakure to her left as well as the nations of Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Kusagakure. To the top of Fire Country was three smaller boundaries, one was the newly founded Otogakure and the other being Takigakure. The middle nation though was unnamed. Kakashi pointed to that one.

"Hokage-sama, what nation is that?"

Danzo traced the territory with his finger. "It's an unnamed territory run by an elderly Daimyo. He inherited it through his family, but it has no established shinobi village and a very small capital city. All they have is a handful of renegade hands-for-hire that protect him. I look for any day now for Oto to invade and overtake it."

Kakashi looked up. "What about Oto, how do they fit into this plan of yours?"

"I'll handle Oto, don't worry about them. Now, if that's everything, I need to finish some paperwork."

Kakashi nodded and began to leave, but he stopped and turned to look at Danzo again. A part of Kakashi wondered if maybe he could get a visit with Naruto since Danzo trusted him so much. "Hokage-sama, I know we talked about this earlier, but is there any way I can see Naruto?"

"Kakashi, go home and get some rest. I'll have another mission for you before you know it. Oh and Kakashi, when you write up the mission keep the name the same as in the mission details."

Kakashi nodded and walked out of the office, with a heavy heart. He couldn't help but feel like the heaviness in his heart would lessen if he could just see or touch the baby. He sighed deeply before walking past the building that housed Naruto; his sensitive hearing could hear the sound of the baby crying. Kakashi's hand twitched as he looked up to the window where he imagined Naruto to be. He could practically see Naruto happily crawling around on the floor and babbling to himself. All Kakashi needed to do was climb the wall and he'd be there to witness the scene himself, well after he calmed the crying baby down. Instead of doing it though, he turned and continued walking home. If he was going to become the ANBU member Konoha needed, then he couldn't let himself get caught up in his emotions. He would forget about Naruto for now and hope that one day he could see the boy.

* * *

Danzo drummed his fingers against his wooden desk as he waited for his ROOT spy to show up. Now that he was Hokage he had control of both organizations, but he kept ROOT running because of their strict loyalty to him. Being Hokage gave him the power he always wanted, but it wasn't enough, which was why he was shooting for the Daimyo. All he had to do now was train the jinchūriki to fight for Konoha and everything would be perfect in Danzo's eyes. Well, almost perfect. Hatake Kakashi was becoming more of a hassle than Danzo wanted him to be. Kakashi had too much of his father in him for Danzo's liking. It had gotten to the point where Danzo was positive he would rather get rid of the Hatake now instead of having something ruin his plans later. In fact, Danzo had almost made his mind up about what he was going to do with Kakashi. If he got rid of the boy then not only would he be rid of the only person who knew about his part in the assassination of Yuki, but also the only person who knew the truth about Naruto.

Danzo had big plans for the Yondaime's legacy. Konoha now had their own jinchūriki with an enormous power and if the jinchūriki was raised right then it would only answer to Danzo. Unwavering loyalty was something most kages didn't get every day. With Kakashi out of the picture, Danzo could train Naruto as harshly as he wanted in order to make the jinchūriki strong. To make the perfect weapon. It wouldn't be a hard task to get Kakashi out of the picture, the boy already trusted him, just like his idiot father did at one time. Kakashi would do anything Danzo asked because of his dog-like loyalty to Konoha and Danzo.

As his spy appeared in the room, Danzo grinned at the thought of his plan. He half listened to the spy's report as he began to mentally draw up the plans for Kakashi's next mission. It was a suicide mission in everything but name. Hatake Kakashi was going to be assigned a deep infiltration mission into Oto to track Orochimaru's activities. Danzo would make sure Kakashi didn't return from this mission. As his spy was finishing up his report, Danzo began penning a coded message to Oto. Konoha would lose their snarling wolf, but gain a bloodthirsty kitsune.

* * *

The next morning Kakashi read over his newest orders with just a hint of hesitancy. Solo missions into Otogakure were few and far between for Konoha shinobi. Oto was a small village and weaker than Konoha at the moment. They just weren't a big threat to Konoha's safety, even if Orochimaru was running it. Kakashi wasn't one to question his orders, though, so he accepted and began preparing. If Danzo wanted him to survey some of Oto's dealings then he would do as his Hokage asked him to.

As he got down on his hands and knees to dig out his black ANBU cloak from underneath his bed, his eye was caught by a glint of gold. Curious, Kakashi reached over and grasped the glint of gold in his hands, only to discover that it was his mother's ring. He hadn't seen the piece of jewelry in almost an entire year. He used to consider it his good luck charm, but ANBU didn't need luck to complete their missions.

That didn't stop Kakashi from removing his dog tags and threading the ring through the chain and letting it rest underneath his ANBU armor against his chest. A little extra insurance never hurt anybody, even if the idea of a good luck charm was silly to the teenager.

* * *

Wolf let the rain run across his mask as he looked up into the darkened sky and watched the rain pour from the heavens. He hated when it rained because his ANBU uniform and armor clung to his body uncomfortably and took forever to dry. Oto was a strangely wet place with the near constant rain and wind. Wolf sat precariously on the side of a wall and watched the shinobi below him. For the past week he watched Oto's shinobi and saw nothing more than a few weapons and a scuffle between friends. They just weren't doing anything that looked like it could be a danger to Konoha. Even in the labs below ground, there was nothing suspicious. Which was suspicious in itself. Wolf half expected to see Orochimaru running about, but the man was absent.

Wolf let out another sigh as he tipped his head backwards to stretch his neck muscles. So far his mission had been nothing but one huge cramp in his neck. He hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary, except the random strange tattoo on some of the shinobi, and the constant sitting was making him anxious. He felt like he was barking up the wrong tree.

Hours later, Wolf had moved from his position on the wall and was sneaking around one of the buildings when he saw something suspicious on a table. The building Wolf was in was an administrative type building where messages were decoded and missions processed. He hoped he would find some type of correspondence between Oto and one of Konoha's enemies. Anything to make his mission worthwhile. The scroll was open and decoded, but what interested Wolf was that it looked like Danzo's handwriting. In silent shock, Wolf walked over and picked up the scroll only to discover his name in the scroll.

"Find something interesting, little Hatake?"

The chilly sound of Orochimaru's voice sent shivers down Kakashi's spine. Wolf was fighting for his cool and calm control over his body, but in the face of someone as evil as Orochimaru, he was failing fast. He placed the scroll back on the table and turned to face Orochimaru.

"My name's in this scroll."

Orochimaru stroked his chin in thought and chuckled to himself. "Is it now? Well, did you read the rest? No? Well, Danzo was kind enough to inform me of your visit and said to give you a going away present that you'll never forget."

Kakashi's hand reached for his weapon's pouch and took out a kunai. "Why would Danzo do that?"

Orochimaru laughed before walking closer to Kakashi. "Because, little Hatake, you were a threat to his plan. That jinchūriki of yours that you're so attached to is going to be turned into the perfect weapon. Danzo's already begun the training, something about not allowing it to become soft. That and you know his dirty little secret, both of them now."

"What are you talking about?"

Orochimaru suddenly appeared behind Kakashi and crushed the hand that held onto the kunai. Kakashi bit back a whimper as the bones ground around in his hand. Orochimaru smirked before whispering into his ear. "You know about the Daimyo's daughter and now you know about me." Kakashi struggled against Orochimaru's hold as the man's tongue came close to his neck and wrapped around it. "Since you're going to die anyway, I'll let you in on a little secret. Danzo and I have an alliance together. When he becomes Daimyo, together we will take the shinobi nations by storm and rule them together. I will get all the power that I've ever wanted. Oto and Konoha will be unstoppable."

Kakashi choked slightly as Orochimaru's tongue swept across his neck before receding back into the man's mouth. That tongue was disgusting.

"I can taste your fear Ka-chan. Don't worry you'll be joining daddy soon enough. I promise it won't hurt," Orochimaru grinned evilly, "much."

Kakashi was too busy trying to find a way out of his sticky situation to bristle at the childhood nickname. The same silly nickname his father used to love to call him. As Kakashi saw Orochimaru reach for his katana, he knew he had to act fast or he wasn't going to survive. Though even if he did survive, he didn't know where he would go. Kakashi lifted his foot and unleashed the blade hidden along his leg. He kicked it loose and, using his foot, plunged it into Orochimaru's foot. Orochimaru howled in pain before stabbing Kakashi with the katana in his hand. Holding his side, Kakashi ran out of the room and down the hall.

"Get him!"

Kakashi turned to see a squad of Oto shinobi following close behind him. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he needed to get out of Oto. A kunai struck painfully in Kakashi's shoulder as the shinobi began throwing weapons. Three more shuriken hit him in his legs, but he kept running.

Out of nowhere another shinobi appeared and hit Kakashi's side hard. He let out a hiss as he felt his ribs break. He instantly grabbed his spare katana and slashed towards the other shinobi. The katana hit its mark and blood ran freely from the wound on the shinobi's chest. Another katana appeared out of nowhere and slashed Kakashi across the back. He ducked down and kicked the feet out from underneath the shinobi before driving the katana home into the man's chest.

A hard hit came from the side of his head while he was trying to pry his katana from the chest of the fallen shinobi. Kakashi could feel the blood running freely down the side of his face as he began flying through hand signs and let out a Katon jutsu. The flames burned the offending shinobi and bought Kakashi enough time to catch his breath. He looked at the remaining three shinobi around him and pulled off his ANBU mask. He hooked it onto his pants and slowly opened his Sharingan. The world erupted into a world of red and black as Kakashi began running through the hand signs for his personal jutsu.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi ignored the throbbing in his broken hand and ribs as he raced forward and plowed through the shinobi in front of him. He nailed one of the shinobi with the ball of electricity and watched as the man silently screamed. Kakashi released the jutsu and began backing away from the remaining two shinobi. The Sharingan was quickly draining his chakra. Coupled with the Chidori and the injuries he sustained, Kakashi was in bad shape. The Oto shinobi taunted and catcalled as he began running again. His legs ached and his lungs burned, but he continued running until he left behind the wetlands of Oto and entered a golden wheat field.

The Oto shinobi were behind him the entire time and continued throwing weapons and jutsu at him. Then Kakashi's body finally had enough. He began slowing down and clutching his bleeding side. He had lost too much blood and was feeling dizzy. He was also having trouble breathing. One of the Oto shinobi caught up with him and kicked him forcibly in the leg. It snapped.

He turned with cloudy, pain-filled eyes to watch the rest of the Oto shinobi approach his position. Kakashi felt like resigning to his fate because there was no way he was going to be able to defend himself. His vision began to grow dark as the shinobi got out their weapons for the killing blows. Kakashi lost consciousness just as the Oto shinobi stopped and stared at something behind him. He tried to turn and look, but his body gave out and he slumped forward into the wheat.

* * *

"Ryu, you've got to come see what we've found."

Ryuji sighed. "What now? We're supposed to be on patrol not looking at interesting and cool stuff."

The woman shook her head furiously causing her short boy cut hair to flop in the wind. "Just come on, Ryuji!"

Ryuji raised an eyebrow after the woman. Yoshi never called him by his full name. He didn't even think she knew his full name. He certainly didn't know hers, even after being on a team with her for five years. He followed after her and was met with a sight he never expected to see. In the middle of the wheat field was a badly injured thirteen-year-old boy. He was bleeding heavily and looked to have several broken bones. He was also whimpering in his unconscious state, so he was obviously in a lot of pain. Then at that moment Ryuji noticed the hair color. It was silver.

"Am I seeing things?"

Yoshi shook her head, "He's a dead ringer for the Kaijinkage. We peeled back his masks and he looks exactly like him. He's from Konohagakure and his dog tags said his name is Hatake Kakashi. Blood type O. Serial Number 7812983."

Ryuji kneeled down and unlatched the porcelain mask that was attached to Kakashi's pants. A snarling wolf greeted his eyes and combined with the swirling tattoo on the boy's left arm, Ryuji knew this boy wasn't someone to take lightly. He also gently lifted the chain holding the dog tags to see a gold ring shimmering in the sun light, the words 'W_herever you are, I'll be',_ glaring at him. He was less than five inches away from Sakumo's only son. "What happened?"

"Oto shinobi were chasing him from their territory. If we wouldn't have been here then he would have died by their hands. He could still die if we don't get him back to Kazangakure soon. He's heavily injured and near death. His chakra is almost gone and he's losing blood fast."

Ryuji nodded before reaching down and picking Kakashi up in a single scoop. The boy was strangely light, but Ryuji pushed that into the back of his mind. "Let's hurry up and get him home. Sakumo's gonna' want to see this."

* * *

Danzo watched the wind blow outside the window as he waited for his message. Suddenly a hawk appeared on the windowsill and pecked the glass. Danzo reached out and grabbed the hawk in order to read the message attached to it's leg. A short message was on the tiny piece of paper and simply read 'completed.'

Danzo grinned and began to prepare the funeral arrangements for Hatake Kakashi. Oh how Konoha would mourn their loss.

* * *

So it's really kind of picking up now. The first chapter was kind of slow, but it was the basis of the entire story and there was information in there that was important! So how was it? Review please!

'Rayne


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome to the newest chapter of Renewing Embers!

This is a slightly darker look at the Narutoverse, with Danzo's rise to power and Kakashi's own struggle to not only accept or deny the father that left him but to also try and love the last link to his Sensei. I'm really excited about this story because it is so much more different from my other stories. You guys have no idea how hard it is to switched between writing the relationship between Kakashi and Sakumo in 'WMUI' and here in 'RE'. Two totally different relationships and I hope as the chapters go on, you'll be able to see the work I put into them.

Anyway, thanks so much for the awesome reviews! I'm proud of this story and hope that everyone enjoys it. So, please leave a review in the review box if the itch hits ya and I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter. Happy Readings!

* * *

Yoshi was still slightly flabbergasted after seeing a near clone of her close friend and kage. She couldn't stop herself from staring at the boy. It was mind-blowing to see the similarities between this boy named Kakashi and their Kaijinkage. Everything from their hair color to their eyes was the same. The only difference being Kakashi's features were more feminine than Sakumo's distinguished ones. Well, there was another difference, the two black tomoe spinning wildly in an eye that didn't belong to Kakashi. She stared unblinkingly at the spot the boy had occupied with her mind running through a thousand different possibilities as to why Kakashi was so far away from Konoha. Was he a runaway? Was this simply a mission gone wrong? Or was there a more sinister ploy at play? Was the implanted Sharingan, a bloodlimit only possessed by the Uchiha Clan of Konoha, the reason the boy was running? It didn't make any sense to the black haired woman because the boy was too young to be this deep in trouble with Oto.

Kazan was used to hearing rumors about other nations from their intelligence department and Konoha was the current hot topic for the Intel guys. They didn't know very much about Konoha, Sakumo didn't like for his shinobi to get anywhere near their neighbor to the south, but they did know about the change in leadership. Yoshi couldn't help but remember the night Sakumo found out about Danzo's reign. She had never seen him angrier or drunker in the entire five years of knowing him. Sakumo wasn't one to get wasted often, but when he did, it was best if everyone just left him alone with his demons. She and Ryuji did just that, but both knew he needed to find a better way to deal with his emotions. Yoshi offered Sakumo a different way the next night when she came back after he sobered up and offered the only comfort she could give him, herself. They crossed that thin line between friend and lover that night, a night she didn't regret. She didn't love Sakumo and he didn't love her, but out of lust and necessity they found what they needed in each other.

Yoshi sighed deeply and brought herself back to the matter at hand. Something was off about this turn of events and that was the most prominent thought in her mind. That is 'til she noticed Ryuji racing away from the group with Kakashi cradled in his arms.

"Ryu! Wait up!"

"No time!"

Ryuji raced back to Kazan with Kakashi securely settled in his arms. The boy was disturbingly light and Ryuji felt like he was carrying a child much younger than thirteen. Even though the captain didn't personally know the child, his heart went out to him. Ryuji had been on the receiving end of more than one of Oto's attacks and he knew how viciously the Sound shinobi fought. Just from firsthand experience. He knew some of those kunai puncture wounds were most likely teeming with poison and if Kakashi wasn't given medical attention fast then the poison would kill him faster than his other injuries combined.

It was a scary situation for Ryuji, because he knew his friend's only child was lying limply in his arms. The potential key to healing Sakumo's emotional wounds was wasting away. A new, brighter fire burned in Ryuji as he pumped chakra into his leg muscles, he had to get Kakashi to a medic-nin.

The boy still hadn't woken up yet as Ryuji hurriedly raced towards the hidden passage, but his concealed whimpers and soft moans confirmed the pain he was in. Ryuji shifted the body in his arms and performed the hand sign to open the hidden passage in the side of the volcano. The passages were a few of the first things Sakumo ordered to be built after the apartments and other housing. It was just too hard and time consuming to climb up the narrow pathway leading up the volcano and into the valley. It made Ryuji thank his lucky stars Sakumo was lazy and had the passages made because he doubted Kakashi would have made it up the volcano.

There were five hidden passages located around Kazan, one on each of the five dormant volcanoes. Normally a guard pair managed the hidden passages and allowed travelers entrance and departure from the village. However, with the village on lockdown mode the guards retreated further into the passage to await their next orders. Ryuji was supposed to follow a certain procedure to alert the other shinobi the danger had passed, but he didn't have time for that. He needed to get into Kazan fast, damn the rules. Ryuji was sure Sakumo wouldn't mind if he broke a few rules in order to save his son.

Ryuji snarled as one of the guards tried to stop him from continuing into the village.

"Stop! We're on lockdown, no entrance unless it's an emergency!"

"Bastards, can't you see this is an emergency!"

Ryuji ran past the guards and deeper into the volcano. The village being on lockdown complicated things tremendously. After the village was first founded, Sakumo and the original guards for the old Daimyo developed an emergency response system in the event they were attacked. With the newly developed Oto breathing down their necks, it was an important necessity.

The system was devised into multiple parts. The first response was a series of detection seals spanning a five-mile radius outside of Kazan. They could only be triggered by human disturbance or high chakra reserves, like those of summon animals. So regardless if an enemy shinobi used their own two feet or those of their summons, they would be detected. If the detection seals were triggered, then phase two was enacted, which involved the shinobi on sentry duty. There were exactly four teams of three shinobi posted symmetrically at each directional point, so there could be an equal amount of distance between each guard post.

The detection seals were directly connected to the guard posts and to Sakumo's office. If someone breached the barrier, then both Sakumo and his shinobi on patrol knew about it. The shinobi on duty would investigate and then one of two things would happen. If the intruders were immigrants, they would be taken to the check-in-stations along the outside of the volcanoes for further screening. Sakumo would be alerted and the village would go on without the slightest hint of the operations going on outside its walls. If the intruders were the enemy, though, the next phase was launched. The guards would engage the enemy and alert Sakumo's office, who would then put the village on lockdown. Lockdown included all passages to the village being sealed, except the underground tunnels the civilians would use as escape routes if necessary.

The final phase of the emergency response system was only called for if the enemy breached not only the detection seals, but also the entrances into the village. The jounin and chunin would all go to fight off the assaulting forces while the genin got the civilians to safety. Ryuji had to admit that it was a flawed system, but it was the best Sakumo could do in such a short amount of time.

Kakashi moaned a little in Ryuji's arms, bringing him back to the situation at hand. He was almost out of the passage and could hear his teammate's feet pounding against the rock floor behind him. They were trying to catch up with him, but he wasn't slowing for any of them. He could also hear the guards still cussing up a storm over his entrance. Ryuji smirked as he burst into the sunlight and started running faster through the fields of corn and rice that were sown in the front of the village.

When he finally reached the village entrance, he briefly nodded to the guards on duty without pause and immediately went to the hospital. All of his teammates, except Yoshi, were stopped at the entrance. She continued to follow him despite the yelling of the other guards and was the only one there to help him place Kakashi on the first available gurney he saw. Her short black hair was swept away from her face and her chest was heaving, but she managed to grin at Ryuji. Ryuji was too busy loudly calling for a medic-nin to catch the grin though.

When the medic-nin finally answered his call, she could only stare at the barely breathing boy in shock. The woman rubbed her eyes and continued to stare in silence before flicking her eyes to Ryuji. Yoshi had taken Kakashi's masks off so he could breathe better and the resemblance between him and Sakumo was undeniable. It was almost like Sakumo cloned himself. The only difference being the scar Kakashi bore down his left eye.

"He looks like…"

"I know who he looks like! Get him some help before he dies! He was attacked by Oto ninja, he may be poisoned."

The medic-nin nodded and grabbed the rail of the gurney. She quickly checked Kakashi's pulse on his limp wrist. "His heart rate is decreasing. Get him into a room now!"

A nurse ran past Ryuji and helped the medic-nin push Kakashi into the nearest operating room. For the next few minutes, Ryuji watched as nurses and medic-nins ran in and out of the room. Yoshi walked over to stand beside him. She bumped him with her hip to bring him back from his thoughts. Though they would never admit it, Yoshi and Ryuji were close friends, very close. They were both members of the original guard detail to the old Daimyo and had quite the interesting history between the two of them.

Sakumo, Ryuji and Yoshi were originally placed on the same team while working for the Daimyo. Through all of their trials and hardships, they became a family together. A strange family, but a family nonetheless. They didn't have set familiar roles though, except Yoshi, she was the glue of the family. When everything was falling apart, she somehow managed to keep them together.

Their squad actually formed a bizarre triangle, though none of them loved each other in the romantic sense, they weren't above seeking acceptance and warmth from each other. Yoshi wasn't a whore, but she wasn't ashamed to admit she had slept with both of her teammates and only her teammates since finding them. They were all adults and shinobi. Being shinobi meant that trust was a huge issue when choosing sexual partners. Yoshi trusted both of her boys with her life on the battlefield, so there was no doubt in her mind about trusting them enough to have sex with them. She trusted them more than she ever trusted the man her father picked to be her husband. A man she ran from after he brutally forced her into sleeping with him the night before their wedding. He stripped her innocence from her, so she stripped his life from him. You don't rape a kunoichi and not expect them to shove the closest deadly weapon into your heart. Which Yoshi did, after she gathered enough strength and willpower to pick up the stiletto heel that he had thrown on the floor.

"You gonna' tell Saku?"

Ryuji looked over at her and really took a close look her. Her hazel eyes were filled with worry and the skin on her forehead was scrunched together in frustration. Even her short black hair was sticking up in places like it was anxious to hear about the silver haired teen. His eyes traveled down her body before noticing that Kakashi's blood was splattered across her light brown uniform vest. He had a feeling his was sporting similar bloodstains. It made him feel queasy to his stomach to think about the amount of blood the youth had lost.

"Eyes up soldier!"

Ryuji rolled his eyes; even in the most serious moments, messing with Yoshi was always worth the effort. Their relationship, if it could be called that, was a secret. No one needed to know about their business. Ryuji didn't mind, he knew that every night Yoshi wasn't in his bed she was either in Sakumo's or in her own alone. Though lately, she had been spending more time in his bed than anyone else's. Only once in a blue moon did Yoshi and Sakumo hook up. Sakumo felt guilty about their casual flings. Ryuji figured it was because of his late wife, but never commented on it.

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart."

Yoshi grinned, "You just wish you could get a girl as good as me."

"Well, you do come with good reviews. Jiro said you can do some insane things with your big toe."

"Asshole."

"Love you too baby."

Yoshi growled in frustration before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Ryuji liked to think she was counting to ten. She opened her eyes and stared at the doors where Kakashi was being held.

"I think you should tell Sakumo. I would, but I think he needs to hear it from you. You two have always been so close."

Ryuji rubbed his eyes, "Okay fine. I'll tell him. You should go get cleaned up and go on home. You can go to my apartment if you want to stay the night. I'll be there later."

Yoshi nodded and did something out of character in public. She gripped his forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He watched her as she walked away with his eyes lingering on the swing of her hips a little longer than usual. He couldn't help but remember the blue and white butterfly tattoo she had inked onto the side of her right hip. One of the elder medic-nins performing his rounds on that hall caught Ryuji's stare and grinned at the man knowingly and muttered something about 'young love.' Ryuji flushed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Ryuji appeared in Sakumo's office only to find the room empty. He then remembered the meeting scheduled that day. He knew Sakumo wouldn't appreciate him interrupting his meeting with the Academy senseis, but he knew the man would be highly upset if he didn't tell him about their unexpected visitor. The simple fact Kakashi was also fighting to stay alive made Sakumo needing to be there all the more important. The green haired man decided Sakumo would rather have his meeting interrupted than have his son die before he got to see him.

Ryuji walked hurriedly out of Sakumo's office and into the meeting room down the hall. Every head turned as Ryuji opened the door that entered in the back of the room. He grinned at them and gave a wave before walking to the front of the room. Sakumo was sitting behind another desk with a stack of papers spread out in front of him about the restructuring of the Academy. This was really the first year they had enough children to have two full classes for potential genin and changes were needed for the classes to work more efficiently.

Kazangakure no Sato could be considered a village of misfits and refugees. The unwanted, unloved and runaways somehow all found a home within the volcanic walls of the village. Not that the village was made of criminals, but it was home to people who wanted a new beginning without fear of their old lives getting in their way. Missing ninjas, banished villagers, refugees and the random wanderer called the village home.

In the beginning, back when the old Daimyo simply wanted to leave his granddaughter a place she could be protected, there were ten original inhabitants; the ten members of the Daimyo's ragtag group of guards. Guards that included Yoshi, Ryuji and Sakumo. Once the Daimyo decided he wanted to build a shinobi village, he sent out his guards to recruit other civilians and shinobi into the budding community. Surprisingly enough, many people were interested and made the long journey to Kazan.

Some of the first shinobi immigrants were a squad of Iwagakure shinobi that didn't agree with the ongoing Third Shinobi War and defected. Their use of stone jutsu and knowledge of stone carvings built many of the apartments in the village. They almost single handedly carved all of the housing out of stone and even used their experience to update the tunnels underneath the village.

Needless to say, the village was quickly growing in numbers, but very few women and children were making the journey to Kazan. It wasn't 'til Iwagakure started blazing through Kusagakure and Amegakure that Kazan started getting a large number of women and children. War orphans began arriving almost daily, hungry and confused, but alive. Women came next, all following rumors and whispered tales from back alleys, not really believing the village to exist. The first children of Kazan were being born at an alarming rate now, but it was welcomed.

"Ryuji? Something wrong?"

Ryuji nodded his head, "Sakumo, you might need to come with me. Now."

Sakumo blinked and stood quickly with a worried look on his face. "The barrier was tricked, did they get into the village?"

Ryuji shook his head, "No." He looked around at the other shinobi before walking closer to Sakumo and whispering into his ear, "The Oto shinobi were chasing someone and that someone is seriously hurt. We need you at the hospital now."

Sakumo leaned away from Ryuji and stared at the other man. A sinking feeling was eating away inside of Sakumo and filling the hole with cold dread. "Who?"

Ryuji swallowed thickly, "Kakashi."

The shinobi in the room all blinked in surprise as their kage disappeared in a puff of smoke, scattering papers everywhere. Ryuji simply informed them that their meeting was canceled before disappearing too. He arrived at the hospital only to find Sakumo sitting pitifully on one of the benches outside of the operating room. He sat beside his friend and waited.

* * *

Being thirteen is hard.

Being a shinobi at thirteen is even harder, but the hardest thing Gai ever had to do at thirteen is place a chrysanthemum on his friend and eternal rival's empty grave. No body of the fallen warrior could be returned home and all that rested in the fresh grave was an old pair of rusted dog tags and one shiny Hitai-ate. Gai found it ironic. All of the graves marked with the 'Hatake' surname were empty, but of the parents were cremated in some form or fashion. Hatake Ai's by shinobi standards and Hatake Sakumo's by his own. Now Kakashi's empty grave rested beside his parents.

It made Gai's head ache. Kakashi may have been aloof and a bit of a loner, but Gai considered him a good friend. There the green clad youth stood solemnly beside the sickly Sandaime, a young boy with a scar running across his nose, Asuma, and a few other shinobi paying their last respects to a boy gone too soon. It made Gai's chest ache as he tried to ignore the salty water falling quietly down his cheeks and dripping onto the mocking green grass below him. So full of life when his friend no longer carried the same life in him.

Being thirteen is hard, especially when the death of a friend just made you realize you aren't invincible.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood soberly by his son and watched the mourners.

Half of them never knew Hatake Kakashi, just his reputation. Hiruzen knew him, though, he knew him better than most. To the ones gathered around the small grave Kakashi was an untouchable legend that finally met his match. The ex-Hokage even heard a few scoffing over the fact that Kakashi wasn't as powerful as he thought he was if he died. It sickened the elderly man; people very easily forgot that Kakashi was human.

They forgot that Kakashi was at one time a giggling toddler. They forgot that Kakashi used to have a pair of loving parents that showered him in affection and warmth. The villagers didn't remember the little silver haired boy that would ride on Sakumo's shoulders through the marketplace so they could meet up with Ai for lunch.

Hiruzen remembered, though, he remembered so much that the memories haunted his dreams. He remembered holding Kakashi at three-days-old when Sakumo was proudly showing off his firstborn son. He remembered watching Kakashi take his first steps in front of the village gates while the mother and child pair waited for Sakumo to return from a mission. He remembered the anger and grief in Kakashi's eyes as he cried on the eve of his father's memorial service. He remembered all of these little scenes that proved Kakashi was human and not just a reputation. He remembered things that the mourners would never have the honor of remembering.

The onetime Hokage sighed deeply and tried to bite down the cough that was slowly working its way up his throat. He had failed Sakumo twice, once when he believed Danzo over his loyal shinobi and the second time by letting Kakashi die. The sickened man could only hope father and son find each other in the afterlife and forgive him for his transgressions against them.

Slowly, he grasped Asuma's shoulder and whispered into his son's ear. Asuma nodded and placed his own flower beside Gai's tear splattered one. The Third watched the wind blow across the petals of the flowers across the freshly dug grave before closing his eyes in prayer. He had a meeting with Danzo later and was going to need all the patience and strength the gods could provide. He was still had the pride of a Hokage and would continue to be strong for his people. The only thing that gave away with weakness was the steady shaking of his hands.

* * *

Phew! It's a pretty intense chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it and like before, this was edited by Chacha1. She's pretty near amazing when it comes to the dreaded commas and such. The story really starts to take off now with Kakashi in Kazan and Sakumo seeing his son.

Please review!

And until next time,

'Rayne


	4. Chapter 4

Welcome back to RE! I'm very happy with the reviews and favorites this story has been getting. I didn't expect it to be received so well and all of this interest makes me happy! So I ask that you guys please review and tell me how the story is going and if you see any mistakes or plot holes. Okay, Happy Readings!

* * *

Sakumo sat on the bench outside the operating room the entire night without ever saying a single word. To Ryuji it seemed like the man was in either a state similar to a trance or he was in shock. His entire body was painfully tense and strands of his silver hair were messily falling around his face. He spent a majority of his time sitting on the bench running his fingers through his bangs in frustration. Ryuji knew Sakumo only did that when he was extremely anxious.

The green haired man decided this situation definitely called for anxiety on Sakumo's part. His unease showed in more than just his body language, though. Sakumo's eyes followed the coming and going medic-nins like a wolf watching his prey. His dark eyes would trail after each person entering or exiting the double doors of the operating room, silently begging for information he wasn't getting. After the first few hours of silence from the medic-nins, Sakumo's eyes took on a haunted look, almost like a caged, wild animal ready to pounce. It unnerved Ryuji.

He ended up staying with Sakumo the entire night and silently offered his support, but that didn't appear to be enough. Ryuji couldn't get Sakumo to speak, eat or even leave the bench. It seemed to be a hopeless situation. Yoshi eventually made her way back to the hospital right before dawn and was able to coax Sakumo into getting a bite to eat. Even that took a near act of God, though.

"Come on Saku, you've got to eat something."

Yoshi's eye scrunched together in frustration as she watched him shake his head and go back into his trance. Yoshi was pissed to say the least. She had woken up early just to prepare breakfast for him and the man refused to eat it. She glared at the sun blazing into the hallway from the windows. Getting up early wasn't something she liked to do willingly and here she was sacrificing her sleep for him and he didn't care.

In a fit of childish anger she picked the bowl of rice up from the tray she carted from Ryuji's apartment, which was located all the way across the village, and threw it against the wall beside Sakumo's head. All of a sudden Sakumo snapped to attention and was across the hall before the bowl ever hit the wall. His chest heaving as if he ran a marathon and eyes were burning with anger.

"What the Hell was that?"

Yoshi squared her stance and crossed her arms across her stomach. "I'm not going to baby you anymore. I don't have the patience for it this morning. So suck this whole 'poor, poor pitiful me' act up and bring me back my Sakumo."

Sakumo blinked in shock, as did Ryuji. They both knew how angry Yoshi got whenever someone woke her up before eight, but they had never personally seen her blow up before. It was downright scary. Ryuji swallowed thickly and Sakumo took another step back from the glowering woman. Her entire aura screamed danger and they knew better than to cross her at that point. Yoshi finally managed to curb her anger a few minutes later with a few simple breathing exercises and smiled apologetically at the other two.

"Okay, that wasn't the greatest start to the morning, so let's try this again." Yoshi walked over to the bench, picked up the tray and held it out towards Sakumo. "I made you breakfast. Come and have a bite."

Sakumo and Ryuji both shared a look before racing towards the tray and picking up one of the dishes she had prepared. Originally she made each person a bowl of rice and a plate of tamagoyaki, but after her little episode they were short a bowl of rice. Yoshi figured they would just have to make do with what was left. It didn't matter anyway; Sakumo and Ryuji were going to fight over the remaining bowl anyway. They were worse than two-year-olds sometimes. Even with their mock fighting in the background, Yoshi couldn't help but smile happily as they both ate the food she painstakingly prepared for them. For just a few minutes, Sakumo's mind was off of his son and on something that would anchor him if Kakashi didn't make it.

Ryuji reached over to Yoshi's plate with his chopsticks while she was lost in thought and stole a tamagoyaki from her. Yoshi's rolled omelets were legendary among the Daimyo's original ten. Being one of only two females in the original ten in the beginning, Yoshi was often roped into cooking. That was 'til she hit Ryuji in the back of the head with a frying pan after he made an offhanded comment about a woman's place being in the kitchen. After Ryuji scraped himself off of the floor, Yoshi punished him by making him cook every meal for the next three months. Luckily for the other members of the guard, Ryuji turned out to be a very skilled cook.

Sakumo snorted as Yoshi looked down at her plate to discover some of her tamagoyaki missing. She glared at Ryuji before snatching his bowl of rice away from him. Sakumo watched both of them with an amused eye before remembering a time when his son used to sneakily steal food from his plate. That sharp ache returned in Sakumo's chest and he dropped his chopsticks to the tray. Suddenly he wasn't in a very jovial mood anymore.

Yoshi noticed his change of mood and turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Saku, stop. Everything's going to be fine."

"How can you say that? My son could be dying."

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, but he's not dead yet. You've still got hope. Any minute now the medics will come through those doors and tell you that Kakashi is going to make a full recovery. Just wait and see."

Sakumo rubbed his eyes and turned to watch the birds fly around outside the hospital window. "I've got so much stuff to do today, but I don't want to leave the hospital."

Yoshi cleared the dishes and set them all on the tray before placing the tray on the floor. "Well, missions will hand themselves out and the Daimyo won't show up 'til next week. I can handle the meeting with the Academy senseis and Ryuji here can take the new applicants for your guard detail. All you need to do is sit here and wait. If anything big happens, we'll send word. Stay here Sakumo, I think it's time you took a mini-vacation anyway."

Sakumo sighed, "Do you want me to summon the ninken to run messages back and forth?"

Ryuji shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Kane would certainly look intimidating beside me while I'm interviewing the new recruits."

Yoshi punched Ryuji in the arm, "Talk about taking advantage of an offer." She turned her pretty hazel eyes towards Sakumo, "And Shiri would be great company if I was going to have to spend all day in an Academy meeting."

Sakumo grinned and rolled his eyes, "You're both like overgrown children, just begging for an opportunity to play with my wolves." Sakumo bit his thumb, though, and performed the hand seals for the summoning jutsu. Two wolves appeared. One was a very large white wolf and the other was a medium sized chocolate brown wolf. Sakumo scratched them both behind the ears before whispering his orders for the day. Shiri, the chocolate wolf, went to sit beside Yoshi, while Kane, the white wolf, went to sit beside Ryuji.

Yoshi happily pulled Shiri into a hug and was turning to thank Sakumo when the doors to the operating room opened and a solemn looking medic-nin walked out. The medic's sea green scrubs were covered in bright red blood and his eyes showed his exhaustion. He turned to Sakumo and bowed before motioning for his kage to sit down. Ryuji and Yoshi went to sit beside him for support. The medic-nin sighed deeply before tiredly rubbing his eyes and giving Sakumo a small smile.

"The boy…"

Sakumo interrupted, "Kakashi."

The medic-nin blinked before nodding and beginning again, "Kakashi was in very critical condition when he was brought to us. He had a lot of head trauma and multiple stab wounds. A lot of his puncture wounds looked to be from kunai and shuriken, which were unfortunately coated in some of Oto's deadliest poisons. He had several broken bones and a few cracked ribs. His left tibia was snapped clean in two and the metacarpals in his right hand were crushed. On top of all of that, he has severe chakra exhaustion and was not only dehydrated, but malnourished."

Sakumo nodded, "And?"

The medic-nin sighed again, "Ryuji got him here just in time to stop the poisons from spreading further into his body via his bloodstream. We were able to localize many of the lesser poisons and completely remove them from his system after only causing minor damage. One of the more serious poisons found in his body did corrode some of the lining of his internal organs, but those wounds were easily healed. Another attacked his digestive system, so he may have a few problems with digesting food after he recovers. He'll need to be on a special diet for a few days 'til the healers are able to fix it completely. Unfortunately, one of the weapons used on him was coated with a very deadly poison Orochimaru developed to attack the cardiovascular system. It stopped Kakashi's heart twice and we had to resuscitate him using an electric shock to jumpstart his heart."

Sakumo looked like he was going to be sick as Yoshi reached over and grasped his hand tightly. He squeezed back weakly before waving for the medic-nin to continue.

"Once we got him stabilized we neutralized the poison with the antidote and using our chakra we were able to flush all of the poisons out of his bloodstream and internal organs. Getting all of the poisons out of his system was our first priority because they were causing the most trouble. His head trauma was causing his brain to swell, so we went from there to try and relieve the pressure in his brain. Surgery would have been too risky in his already fragile condition, so we used a combination of treatments to reduce the swelling. We tried giving him lots of IV fluids, put him on a respirator and used ice to lower his body temp. Thankfully, the combination was enough to reduce the swelling and we'll just have to keep a close watch on it for the next few days. While he was out we repaired the crushed bones in his hand and the snapped tibia."

The medic-nin pointed to his own lower leg, "Kakashi's bone was snapped very cleanly. It didn't take much chakra to mend it back together, but he will need to be off it for a while. It'll most likely be sore. We couldn't do anything about the chakra exhaustion. The only cure for that is a big meal and a good night's sleep, but the dehydration and malnutrition bother me. The dehydration could easily be explained because of the poison and the extent of his injuries, but the malnutrition isn't explained by any of this. He's underweight by thirty pounds. This isn't something that just happened overnight. He hasn't been taking care of himself for a while. I don't know if it's an eating disorder or if it's just carelessness on his part, but I think it's best that his eating habits be monitored after he recovers."

Sakumo nodded profusely, "What now?"

"Kakashi is currently in a medicated coma. We weren't able to fully repair all of his internal injuries and to reduce the stress on his body we decided it would be best for him to sleep through everything. Once we're a hundred percent sure the swelling in his brain is down and all of his internal organs are back in working order we'll wake him up. We've also got some extensive skin graphing to do on his left side where a katana shredded through his skin. He is attached to a heart monitor and has a breathing tube, but that was just a precaution to keep his airways open during surgery. We'll take the tube out in a couple of days, but he'll keep the heart monitor 'til we wake him up. He's stable now, Sakumo-sama, but he's in very critical condition."

Ryuji could feel the tension in the room and gripped the edge of the bench 'til his knuckles turned white, "Is he going to live?"

The medic-nin shrugged his shoulders, "Only time will tell. As of right now, he's expected to make a full recovery."

Sakumo nodded, tears of happiness collected at the corners of his eyes. "Can I see him?"

"Sir, I wouldn't advise it. He's beaten up pretty bad and covered in wires and tubes right now. But if you are determined to, then follow me. He's in a private room in the intensive care unit." The three shinobi began walking toward another set of double doors down the hall from the operating room. The medic-nin stopped Yoshi and Ryuji, "I'm sorry, but only family is allowed inside."

Yoshi and Ryuji both nodded, "Fine, we've got to get going anyway. We'll send Shiri or Kane if anything big happens."

Sakumo nodded, "Thanks so much you guys."

Yoshi beamed before telling him it was 'no biggie.'

"This way Sakumo-sama."

Sakumo waved 'bye' to them before following the medic-nin into a private hospital room located to the left of the nurses' station. Inside was his son, the same boy he hadn't seen in six years. The medic-nin informed Sakumo of the sterile conditions that needed to be maintained so Kakashi wouldn't get sick. He gave the kage a pair of surgical scrubs and booties to wear over his clothes and sandals. He then had to wash his hands in antibacterial soap before he was given the green light to visit with his son.

The old tightness in his chest increased and Sakumo soon found it hard to breathe as he was showed the door to his son's room. He didn't know if he could walk into the room and face his past. He didn't know if he could go in there and see his Ka-chan. Deep in Sakumo's heart he knew Kakashi wasn't going to be the same seven-year-old boy he left behind in Konoha. His boy was thirteen-years-old, almost a young man. Suddenly a wave of parental desire hit him; he needed to see his son and make sure his boy was okay. He needed to see how time had changed Kakashi. The medic-nin brought Sakumo out of his thoughts as he told Sakumo to take his time before leaving him alone to walk into the room.

It was like walking into a bad dream Sakumo couldn't wake up from as he saw his teenage son for the first time in six years. Well, what he could see of his son. His boy looked so young and vulnerable lying in the stark white sheets of his hospital bed with wires connecting his body to different machines around the room. A heart monitor beeped strong and evenly beside Kakashi's bedside as Sakumo walked over and sat in the lone chair. His eyes never strayed far from the wires and tubes connecting to Kakashi. It hurt to see the temporary breathing tube taped securely into his nose. It made his heart ache seeing his baby so bruised and beaten. The normally stark white bandages wrapped around Kakashi's shoulder and side were tinted a very light pink. He had wounds no child should possess, especially not his. Guilt began to eat at Sakumo; he should have been there to protect him.

Sakumo reached over to grab Kakashi's hand as he felt hot tears fall onto his cheeks. The boy's left hand seemed to be the only thing that wasn't bandaged or connected to wires. Sakumo gently stroked the smaller hand before grasping it tightly and holding it against his cheek. The fingers didn't twitch in recognition or even move, but Sakumo held onto them as if they were his lifeline. He placed a gentle kiss on top of the hand and continued absentmindedly stroking it with his thumb in a comforting fashion.

"I've missed you so much Kakashi. So much that it hurts. I hate that we had to meet again under these circumstances, but I promise this time around I'm going to make everything right. I promise."

Kakashi remained silent. The only sound heard in the room was the beeping of the various machines, but Sakumo kept talking. He talked 'til his throat was raw and achy. He talked just because he knew he would break down if he couldn't get his mind off of something besides the defenseless boy lying unresponsive in the bed before him.

"Ka-chan, I love you, from the bottom of my heart. I love you."

* * *

Kane and Shiri lazily trotted in front of Ryuji and Yoshi as they walked from the hospital to the Kaijinkage Building. This building was where all the administrative departments were housed, including the mission's desk and meeting rooms. Kazan didn't have an official council like Konoha did because they really didn't have any major clans or civilian families. They were so mismatched it wasn't something Sakumo wanted to try at this point in time. Sakumo made a majority of all the decisions with the approval of the Daimyo and with the approval of the jounin. The civilians didn't have a say in shinobi matters, but if something came up regarding civilian matters then the civilian representatives were asked to give their opinions. It wasn't a perfect system, but it was working great for Kazan.

Ryuji stopped Yoshi and pulled her into the alley behind the Kaijinkage Building. He pushed her against the stone wall and brought his face down close to hers. His eyes were filled with silent worry. Yoshi's own eyes mirrored his own. "I'm worried about Sakumo."

She nodded, "So am I. I think I'm going to visit him tonight."

Ryuji nodded knowingly, "I think that's for the best. I'll miss you tonight."

She grinned before switching their positions and reaching over to pinch the man's firm behind, "Liar."

Ryuji jumped slightly at the sudden pain and glared at her. "No fair. If you get to grope in public then I get to grope in public." He brought his hand dangerously close to her breast, only to be stopped as she brought her knee dangerously close to his groin. He growled low in his throat, "Cheater."

Yoshi laughed before walking back into the main road. She threw a wave back to Ryuji over her shoulder and continued into the Kaijinkage Building. Ryuji rolled his eyes and headed to pick up the newest recruits with Kane by his side.

"Come on Kane, let's go scare some rookies."

* * *

Yoshi stealthily made her way into the intensive care unit of the hospital as soon as the Academy meeting with the senseis was finished. Neither she nor Ryuji had seen Sakumo all day. They both made sure no one tried to interrupt Sakumo while he was sitting with his son, but deep down they knew he was going to have to come back to work regardless if Kakashi was still in a coma or not. All of Kazan just couldn't stop because of one boy. They needed their kage more than Kakashi needed his father. It sounded cruel, but it was the truth. Sakumo was needed as Kaijinkage or the village would fall apart.

She entered Kakashi's room to see Sakumo sleeping in the single chair by his bed. His head was resting against his arms on the mattress and one of his hands was lightly holding the limp hand of his son. It was a precious sight, one Yoshi hated to disrupt, but Sakumo needed to get out of this hospital room. She walked over and gently nudged him awake. He was disoriented at first, but quickly recognized his surroundings.

"Yoshi?"

She nodded before grabbing his arm, "Come on Saku. Let's get you home."

Sakumo tried to take a quick look behind him, but Yoshi pulled him forward. They walked out of the hospital and into the night. Sakumo shivered, even though he was wearing his robes he was cold. Yoshi led the way back to Sakumo's house on the outskirts of Kazan and unlocked the door. Sakumo watched as Yoshi began walking towards his bedroom. He knew what she was here for. He could tell from the obvious sway of her hips and the way his name rolled off of her lips. He didn't love her, but he knew he couldn't resist her, not that he would have wanted to.

Yoshi was beautiful in her own way. Sakumo was aware of that, even more so as he entered his bedroom and saw her smirking at him from the edge of his bed. Her clothes traded for one of his sweatshirts. He had to admit, she could change clothes faster than any woman he had ever known. She wagged her finger at him and grinned as Sakumo followed her every move like a puppy seeking affection. He knelt before her and rested his head against her thigh before sighing contently. She gently treaded her fingers through his long hair, brushing out tangles from the silver mop. Sakumo made a low whimpering sound, which had her lifting his face up to meet hers. Yoshi kissed his lips softly before pulling away and motioning for him to get onto the bed.

"Lay face down."

Sakumo did as she said and nearly moaned in bliss as Yoshi began massaging his overly tense muscles. She straddled his back and kneaded the hard muscle, adding a few gentle nips and kisses across the scarred back as she continued. Unexpectedly, Sakumo twisted in her hold and flipped her underneath him. She stared up in silent shock and frightened awe as she realized just how vulnerable she was and just how dangerous this situation would be with the wrong person. Sakumo saw the sudden fear in her eyes and smiled sadly as he moved away from her. She groped for him quickly, trying to regain the moment, but Sakumo stopped her. He lay on his side and pulled her close against him.

Yoshi turned her head and looked back into Sakumo's eyes. They were tired and pleading. He wanted nothing more than to just lay there contentedly with his arms wrapped around her. His eyes were begging her to just accept the warmth and comfort for tonight. She nodded and snuggled against the solid body behind her. This was why she loved being with Sakumo, the mandatory cuddling. Ryuji was fun and adventurous, but Sakumo was constant and warm.

Before Yoshi drifted into sleep, she couldn't help but smile; this was exactly where she needed to be at this moment. Sakumo needed another anchor and she was glad to take up the role. Sakumo pulled Yoshi closer and buried his face into her back between her shoulder blades, breathing deeply to calm his violently erupting emotions. Something told him that life was about to get a little more complicated.

* * *

"Dad?"

Hiruzen looked over at his young son, well, Asuma wasn't going to be a boy much longer. He was already growing taller and his voice was deepening. The ex-Hokage mourned a little that his last child was finally becoming an adult and wished that his mother could be here to see her baby becoming a man.

The elder knew he had been strangely quiet since returning from his meeting with Danzo and it was a justified reaction. He didn't know how to face the information Danzo supplied him with. He didn't want to think about Kakashi being sent on a suicide mission on Danzo's whim. He didn't want to think about the consequences of his knowledge either, because it made not only him a target, but also his son.

"Dad?"

Hiruzen waved impatiently towards his son, signaling for the boy to give him a few minutes to think. As selfish as it seemed, he needed to get Asuma out of Konoha and away from Danzo. He didn't want Asuma to become just another casualty, like the pretty red eyed chunin his son liked so much. Konoha lost a great potential genjutsu mistress when the poor girl was killed on the outskirts of Wave. Hiruzen did not want that to be his son. He couldn't get his civilian daughter out, but he could get his son out easily.

Asuma was growing into a fine shinobi with a rare wind affinity, if trained right; he could become a great threat. His potential is why the Fire Daimyo requested Hiruzen to allow his son to join the Twelve Guardians, something Hiruzen hadn't wanted to allow at the time. Now it was his ticket to getting Asuma to safety.

Unbeknownst to Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen still had loyal followers that didn't agree with the way Konoha was being run. Those followers were growing in number every day. Soon, they would be able to make an attempt on Danzo to try and take Konoha back from him and his ROOT lackeys. It would take time and planning, but the Third hoped the will of fire would catch amongst the withering leaves and spread passionately throughout the hearts of his followers.

"Asuma, pack, you're going to the capital."

* * *

Now the Konoha forces are fighting back, or are starting to fight back at least. I hope everyone is enjoying the chapters and everything. Don't forget to review!

Oh and sorry about the character mishap. Originally I had this story listed under 'Kakashi' and 'Sakumo' and I guess somewhere in my early morning stupor I changed it by accident. Sorry! I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out to me.

Until next time,

'Rayne


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry guys, I got kind of distracted and forgot to update the story. I would like to thank everybody for reviewing even though one of them wasn't the best, but what can I say, flames make good smores. So ignoring that, let's move on to the story! We're getting closer to seeing Kakashi meet Sakumo and you guys can imagine the pressure is building. So I'll let you read and once you get down to the bottom, if you feel the need, review and make me happy. ;P

Happy Readings!

* * *

Yoshi woke the next morning to the mouthwatering smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen. After such an emotionally draining day, a good night's sleep was exactly what they needed to feel refreshed for the next morning. The added bonus of spending it with someone that cared enough to brew coffee for you was even better.

Light filtered into the room from the open window on the opposite side of the room, shining brightly in Yoshi's eyes. She groaned deeply as all thoughts of falling back to sleep were snatched from her. Lazily, she pushed the covers away from her body and slipped out of the bed to peer out the window. It was turning into a beautiful day. The birds were happily chirping outside the window and a few children were playing in the dirt below. One little boy looked up from his dirt play and waved excitedly to her. Yoshi smiled at him before waving back with a more reserved enthusiasm. For such a scary and powerful woman, she had a soft spot for little kids.

With one last look toward the frolicking children she headed out of the bedroom to find her bedmate. Her bare feet lightly hit the floor as she made her way into the kitchen where she found Sakumo leaning against the counter and staring intensely at the coffeemaker. The black haired kunoichi giggled silently because it looked like Sakumo was mentally urging the coffee to brew faster.

With a smile tugging on her lips, she walked over and wrapped her arms around his middle. He didn't tense or flinch, but instead leaned back into her hold. The action made her realize that his tracking skills were still sharply honed; the desk job hadn't dampened them any. He was still the same powerful shinobi she met five years ago. The thought thrilled her.

His voice was gruff with sleep and exhaustion as he greeted her, but it still held a teasing quality. "Mornin' babe.

Yoshi rolled her eyes as she rested her forehead against the middle of Sakumo's back. She was a great deal shorter than him and it showed as she stood against him. "Don't call me babe. I'm not your babe or your sweetheart for that matter.

"Damn. I was going to use that one next. How about cupcake or muffin?"

Her left eye twitched slightly before she poked him hard in the side, right below his third rib. "Stop before I have to get ugly."

Sakumo snorted in laughter, "Babe, nothing about you is ugly."

Yoshi's eyes brightened and hardened as she heard him call her 'babe' once more. She growled lowly before gripping his shoulder and spinning him around. She took a few steps forward so Sakumo's backside was squashed against the counter and pinned his arms to his side. He leaned down to look at her with an amused smile on his face as she looked up and glared. "What have I said about calling me 'babe'?"

Sakumo shrugged and looked years younger as he did so. His dark eyes held a dangerous glint in them that made Yoshi think of a young, adventurous teenager. And the way his bangs fell into his eyes made him look rugged and downright intoxicating. Yoshi leaned closer as Sakumo smirked and leaned down further to whisper into her ear, "Why don't you remind me," He pulled back before lowering his lips to meet hers in a slow kiss. He lifted his eyes once more to meet hers and grinned fully, "babe."

Right there in the middle of the kitchen, while their morning coffee finished brewing, they made love. No words were exchanged throughout their coupling; the atmosphere was too heavy with flyaway emotions and moans to make room for anything else. Yoshi didn't allow herself to think as Sakumo made her body tremble and squirm. She couldn't allow herself to think because that would only complicate her emotions. Though she was physically with Sakumo, a part of her was with Ryuji. She couldn't get the green haired man out of her system and that was scaring her. Yoshi didn't like being scared of anything; it went against her very being. So instead of understanding her emotions, she focused everything on Sakumo.

Sakumo had long since decided Yoshi was a true seductress sent from the heavens to either guide or destroy him. Watching her face flush beautifully with desire, he knew she was probably going to do a little of both. He didn't love her, but felt something close enough to that difficult emotion to make all of this alright. Sakumo decided that maybe everything was going to be alright if they could just get through the next few weeks.

Hours later, Yoshi pouted at a grinning Sakumo while attempting to drink their cold coffee. He simply shrugged and leaned back against the counter. He reached over to his own cup and downed the thick liquid without even a grimace. Yoshi scrunched her nose up in disgust before pouring the black liquid down the drain and playfully bumping Sakumo's leaning form with her hip. He in turn slapped her behind as she walked in front of him, the resounding slap and squeal making the cold coffee all the sweeter.

Before Yoshi and Sakumo could leave the house, Ryuji stopped by. He was mostly looking to see if anyone had cooked breakfast because he was out of everything except wasabi sauce. From previous experiments, Ryuji knew plain wasabi sauce did not go well on toast or rice. He was disappointed to find no food and cold coffee, but the relaxed look on Sakumo's face brightened his mood. That is until Sakumo started questioning him about the recruits he reviewed the other day.

A whole afternoon of interviewing had come up with nothing, leaving behind a very frustrated captain. Not a single candidate was up to the standards that Ryuji wanted in a new recruit for Sakumo's guard detail. While Konoha had their ANBU guards for the Hokage, Kazan had Ryuji and his band of trained shinobi. Their job was a highly sought after position, but it was extremely hard to obtain. They were not only the protectors of the kage, but they were also the ones that set the standard for Kazan shinobi. They were required to look as sharp and professional as they possibly could so they could promote unity around the village.

One of Sakumo's first official decisions as Kaijinkage was to require a mandatory uniform for all Kazan shinobi. As unfair as this seemed, it was a very good idea. Kazan was made up of shinobi from all over the shinobi lands, from large villages like Konoha and Iwa to smaller communities in Ame and Kusa. Sakumo didn't want his shinobi to think of themselves as past members of those places, he wanted them to consider themselves current shinobi of Kazan. So in order to promote unity and raise morale, he issued all of his shinobi the same uniform. There were some variations to the uniform, like differences in pants or skirts for the kunoichi and differences in shades of color, but the official uniform was defined by the red stripe pattern on the right sleeve of the shirt and the brown color.

"Ryuji, how did the recruits look yesterday?"

The green haired man rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Like slobs."

Wearing the official uniform was one of the guard's required duties because they were the ones that stood beside the kage during meetings with the daimyo and delegates from the capital. So for the shinobi to come to an interview not in the official uniform always pissed Ryuji off.

Sakumo chuckled, "That's not what I meant. I meant how did they look potential wise?"

"Oh. Well, why didn't you say that to begin with? We had ten shinobi apply, eight male, two female and of those ten only four are qualified to enter the next round of the review."

Yoshi whistled, "Four? What's the matter with the other six?"

Ryuji grinned, "Three had previous records of violence toward a kage or daimyo. One didn't pass the psych evaluation. The other two were because of their uniform."

Sakumo raised an eyebrow in confusion. "We've never kept anyone from passing because of uniform. We both know we don't enforce that rule as much as we should."

"Oh these two were horrible. One had painted her stripes blue and the other came in without pants."

Yoshi erupted into laughter and tried to stifle it with her hand. "You're lying!"

Ryuji shook his head, "No lie. He came in without his pants on and when I asked him, he told me they were invisible."

Sakumo smiled widely before nudging Yoshi, "Well, that wasn't weird at all. Now, how about our four potentials?"

Ryuji held a finger up, "Even they aren't the best choices. The kunoichi is currently a single mother, not that she couldn't do it, but she thinks she might be pregnant again. The other three men are only low chunin level and each specializes in either weapons or genjutsu. We already have a weapons mistress on the squad and a genjutsu master. What we need is a ninjutsu specialist."

Yoshi interrupted, "Only problem with that is that most ninjutsu specialists are almost always tied into assassinations. Do you know how hard it is to get an assassin to switch over to something like permanent guard duty?"

"Yeah, I've tried three times with the assassins here; none of them want to give up the lifestyle or the pay. Greedy little suckers they are."

Sakumo sighed, "We'll just deal with it later then." Sakumo stood up and grabbed his Kaijinkage robe from the kitchen chair. He stopped before slinging the brown material over his arm. "I'm going to head to the hospital."

Ryuji nodded, but stopped Sakumo, "You are going to the office today, right?"

Sakumo chewed on his bottom lip, "I feel like I need to be with Kakashi right now, but I can't just let all of that paperwork pile up. Yeah, I'm coming in after I see Kakashi."

"I'm glad because Yoshi was worried that you would start ignoring village matters." Ryuji had to duck quickly as Yoshi yelled and threw a coffee cup at his head. He barely managed to get out of the way before turning to grin at her.

Sakumo chuckled, "I know, I know. Don't worry. Yesterday was just a shock to my system. I never imagined that I would see him again and especially not in the condition he was in."

Yoshi grasped him hand, "He's going to get better, don't worry, Saku."

Sakumo nodded before bringing his hands together to make the hand seal for the Shunshin, but he stopped and mock glared at the two still sitting at his kitchen table. "So, you two gonna leave?"

Ryuji leaned back in the chair and shrugged, "Don't know, could stay here for a while. I haven't got anywhere to go."

Yoshi laughed and stood up. She walked behind Ryuji and tugged his ear, "We're leaving Sakumo. See you later because we've got to discuss the Academy stuff."

Sakumo agreed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. A few minutes later, two more puffs signaled the departure of Ryuji and Yoshi. Sakumo appeared outside the hospital doors with a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Kakashi being in a coma wasn't causing the feeling of dread. It was the fact his son was chased into his territory by Oto that didn't sit well with Sakumo. It was something he would have to find out after Kakashi woke up, which was something Sakumo was both looking forward to and dreading. He didn't know how Kakashi was going to react to seeing him alive again, but he expected to see anger and disbelief in those dark eyes so similar to his own. He just hoped he would eventually see the same love and admiration that used to shine from them when Kakashi was younger.

A medic-nin was in Kakashi's room in the ICU when Sakumo appeared. She was carefully cleaning his bandages and healing his wounds a little at a time. After he went through the intense sterilizing process, Sakumo walked into the small room to watch the medic care for Kakashi. The shredded skin on his left side was raw and bloody, but would soon be covered by skin grafts. In fact, that was the scheduled operation for the day. The medic-nin finished wrapping the wound and turned to look at Sakumo was sad eyes.

"Is he really your son, Sakumo-sama?"

Sakumo nodded, "My one and only."

"I'm sorry this happened. He's recovering remarkably well as of this morning, so I wouldn't worry too much."

Sakumo laughed humorlessly, "He's my son, I'll always worry."

The medic smiled sweetly before moving over to gently run her fingers through Kakashi's silver hair. "His procedure is scheduled to take place in the next thirty minutes. So your time will be cut short today."

Sakumo thanked the medic-nin and waited 'til she left the room to move over to Kakashi's bedside. The blanket was pulled down around his feet when the nurse cleaned his bandages. Sakumo reached down and pulled the blanket back over Kakashi. He meticulously straightened the blanket around his son before finally sitting down in the chair. It wasn't long before he started mindlessly rambling. His mind was too busy buzzing around for him to keep quiet.

"Morning Kakashi. It's a beautiful day outside and the weather looks really promising for tomorrow. A really nice breeze is kicking up and hopefully it won't rain because the crops are looking a little waterlogged. I wish you were awake so I could show you the village for the first time, it looks really deceiving. It's also going to seem a little strange because it's so different from Konoha. There aren't very many trees here, only stone, lava and volcanic rock. We don't have any kind of monument like the Hokage Mountain, but the dome's pretty cool." Sakumo watched Kakashi's still body and sighed deeply.

"Whenever you finally get out of here, remind me to tell you the legend about the dome covering. It's a really neat piece of supernatural architecture. It reminds me of a one-way mirror. From the inside you can see outside, but from the outside nothing can be seen except the black lava. Another cool thing is that it's kind of permeable too. The elements like wind, rain and sunlight can pass through the dome without any trouble. I would be lying if I said I knew why it was able to do that. It ties in with the legend of how this valley was saved by a few mysterious figures. I guess that's another legend for me to tell you."

Sakumo stopped talking to stare at the beeping heart machine. Talking to a comatose Kakashi was easing his guilt, but wasn't helping anything else. Kakashi wouldn't remember a single thing Sakumo said to him, but it made the elder Hatake feel better. He knew he was wrong for leaving Kakashi like he did and this was the only way he felt like he was actually helping his son. He had promised himself that he would try his hardest to make everything right again. If that meant talking to a comatose patient, then that's what he was going to do.

"I really do have a lot of stuff to tell you about, Ka-chan. I just hope you're going to be willing to listen.

"Kaijinkage-sama, we have to take Kakashi now."

Sakumo smiled ruefully and gently squeezed Kakashi's hand. He locked eyes with the male medic-nin, the same one from yesterday. The name on the man's ID tag read 'Kaito.

"Kaito-san, you'll inform me when he's out of surgery, right?"

Kaito nodded, "We're also beginning the healing on his digestive tract, so it may be a while before you hear anything. I will keep you posted."

"Thanks."Sakumo watched them carefully place Kakashi on a gurney before walking out of the doors and to his office."

* * *

Three hours later, Sakumo was glaring accusingly at a stack of papers that needed his immediate attention. They were about the Academy and boring as Hell. He just couldn't force himself to pick them up and read them. He would rather have been doing anything else then going over those reports and requests

"You've got to read them, Saku."

Sakumo turned and pouted openly at the black haired woman lying across the lone couch in his office. She was supposed to be substituting for one of the jounin senseis that had to be sent out on a last minute mission, but instead she was crashing in Sakumo's office. Just like they were supposed to be talking about the Academy reports, but instead she just handed them to him and lay on the couch.

"Tell me again, where are your genin?"

Yoshi tilted her head back to fully look at Sakumo from her reclining position. "Hold on a second, they're not my genin. And for your information, they're currently attempting to find me. Tracking exercise."

Sakumo buried his face into his hands. "Yoshi, you're supposed to be outside so they can track you."

"Why? Are the targets always waiting outside for you where you're looking for them? No, didn't think so. It's building their skills at 'expecting the unexpected'."

"Sometimes I think you're lying on those psych evaluations. There is no way you are sane."

Yoshi shrugged before sitting up. "I'm as sane as a ninja should be. But since they are genin, I will go easy on them and make a lap around the village. See ya later." Sakumo watched as she skipped out the door. That girl was going to be the death of him.

With Yoshi taken care of, Sakumo squared his jaw and pulled the stack of papers towards him. He was determined to get them read and signed even if it killed him. The first few pages weren't so bad, especially considering Yoshi had carefully made notes in the margins of the reports. Though most of her notes included obscenities and a tiny perverted drawing, they drew his attention to the more important aspects of the Academy rezoning.

Kazan's academy was a five year program. The first four were mandatory to become genin, but the fifth and final year was an option year for specialization. The students who passed the Academy genin test, but wanted to specialize in something like medicine, torture and interrogation, or teaching could attend the last year to start their specialization training. Once those students finished their last year they were paired with a higher ranked shinobi in their preferred field to complete their training. The genin who didn't want to specialize at that time were placed onto teams with a jounin sensei to complete missions and train as regular genin. Then later if they wanted to specialize they could.

The Academy had plenty of space, but needed more senseis. There were exactly forty students in the first year Academy class this year, numbers Kazan had never seen before, twenty-two students in the second year, sixteen in the third year and eleven in the fourth year. The fifth year had eight students, but each student was specializing in a separate part of the shinobi world. Sakumo even knew of one little girl that was specifically going to study to become a delegate for Kazan. He had met her on more than one occasion; she was a tough little girl, but had the sweetest dimpled smile. If her tough exterior didn't work in Kazan's favor then her smile would. He also knew of three students that were in the fifth year to become Academy senseis. Sakumo just wished they were already trained so he could place them in a classroom.

Each set of twenty students needed a teacher for the class to work. That way the sensei wasn't overworked and was able to give enough attention to each individual student. On top of the classroom senseis, there needed to be a separate sensei for each of the shinobi arts, someone to help teach taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu and weapons training. Sakumo looked at his paper and laughed loudly as he saw Yoshi's note.

'_Anyone that agrees to teach weapons has either got a death wish or is masochistic. I wouldn't get within a mile radius of one of those little monsters while they're learning to throw weapons. Whoever volunteers for this needs to be slapped or checked out.'_

"Thank you Yoshi, you just made my day."

Sakumo gradually stopped laughing and refocused his attention on the papers. On top of needing senseis for all of those classes, they also needed someone to teach the kunoichi class and senseis to teach the fifth year students. Sakumo rubbed a hand across his eyes before looking at the shinobi roster. The main senseis from each level could technically handle every aspect of the children's shinobi education, but that was asking a lot of them. On top of teaching theory, they would have to work on the practical application. All of that combined was just too much for one person, so it was a whole lot easier to divide the sections.

Really, anyone could teach the kids, but Sakumo knew that a lot of shinobi just didn't get along with children. He needed to be really careful if he had to go outside of the Academy to find senseis. He put the shinobi roster down and pulled out the Academy sensei roster, thirteen altogether. Not enough for every class, but with a little tweaking everything could work out in Sakumo's favor.

In a streak of meanness, Sakumo placed Yoshi's name beside the slot for the Kunoichi class. Well, that took care of one class. After looking at the roster and seeing Ryuji's name, he couldn't help but wonder how the man would fare in teaching a weapons class. With a smile on his face, Sakumo pushed back into work and began pairing the Academy senseis up with active duty jounin and chunin. If they didn't have enough senseis in the Academy then they were just going to have to rotate 'til some more applied. Hell, he'd even teach a class if it meant maintaining the balance.

"Sakumo-sama?"

The medic-nin that oversaw Kakashi's skin grafting walked into his office and found Sakumo intensely poring over the papers on his desk. His eyes flicked up and met Kaito's before waving him forward.

"Kaito-san, how did everything go?"

"Everything went good. We started healing his colon and were able to get it completely healed in one sitting. The next time we bring him back under we'll work on the small intestine and go from there. His skin grafting went well too. We removed some skin from the inside of his thigh to use as his donor skin, which will only leave a small scar line, and stitched it onto his side. The skin graft seems to be taking very well, but we'll monitor it for the next few days just to make sure.

Sakumo smiled happily, "That's great. Can I come see him?"

Kaito shook his head, "I wouldn't advise it today. There is a huge chance of infection right now. So we need to keep him and his room as sterilized as we can. I'm sorry, but for the next few days he's going to need to be isolated."

Sakumo nodded in understanding, "Okay, fine. You'll update me though, right?"

"Of course. After I check his circulation I'll come and give you a progress report."

Sakumo blinked in alarm, "What's wrong with his circulation?"

"Nothing, it's just a precaution. Most skin grafts are successful, but need to be monitored for good circulation. Just to make sure blood is getting everywhere it needs to go."

Sakumo nodded and thanked the medic-nin before dismissing him. Once the medic was gone, Sakumo reached back into the stack of papers and signed his name across the bottom. Everything was complete for the Academy senseis to review. Five of the thirteen senseis would be the main senseis for each level. The rest would be divided between the different shinobi arts and fifth year classes. Since the younger classes were bigger, Sakumo was also pulling shinobi from the active duty list to rotate and help out the senseis. Weapons training started during the second year, so there needed to be a number of assistants helping with that class. The main thing was that the workload was divided evenly and the kids were going to get a shinobi education that would push them all one step closer to being well rounded shinobi.

The sliver haired man yawned deeply before stacking all of the papers together and mentally congratulating himself for finishing up the Academy plans. All he wanted to do now was go home and fall into bed. Sakumo didn't even know if he could stay awake long enough to shower.

* * *

The Third looked out at the small gathering of people. These were his shinobi, his civilians and his followers. They were the ones loyal to him and not Danzo. He silently prayed for the strength to make his speech.

"Welcome friends, comrades and family. I'm not going to lie to you nor paint you a pretty picture with the words I'm about to say. If you're not willing to commit treason against the Godaime of Konoha then leave and we'll wipe your memory." No one moved. "Good. Tonight we begin taking back Konoha from Danzo's clutches. There will be war, death, tears, pain and anger, but the reward of being able to look at Konoha and know she is cleansed of Danzo's evil will make it all worthwhile. Who's still with me?"

Nara Shikaku stood up and bowed, "Whatever you say, Hokage-sama."

The others in the room followed Shikaku's example and bowed to the sickly man. A fire began to burn brightly in the heart of the resistance as the Third smiled warmly and began calling for ideas. His included running an underground village. The true Konoha would run behind Danzo's back separate from his version of the village. Hiruzen was even going to attempt to persuade some of the lesser shinobi villages to ally with them. One in particular was one he didn't even know if it existed.

Rumors had been floating around for years about a shinobi village in the territory north of Konoha, between Waterfall and Sound. The daimyo there never denied or supported the existence of a village, but Hiruzen knew how important it was to keep a village secret 'til they were strong enough to protect themselves from other villages.

The Third sighed before mentally reminding himself to send a letter to the daimyo through one of his shinobi. The birds couldn't be trusted, but one of his shinobi could. Suddenly Hiruzen could feel the pasty feeling in the back of his throat and excused himself from the meeting. Little Iruka was right beside him as he coughed out globs of blood. The normally tan boy was pale at the sight of the blood. Hiruzen almost wished Tsunade was in Konoha so she could see what was wrong with him. He stopped coughing and ignored the bright red blood on his hand. He wiped his hands onto a napkin and looked at his crystal ball setting on the table.

"Everything's going to be just fine Iruka. Just fine."

Hiruzen tried to ignore the disbelieving look on Iruka's face as he handed the older man his medicine.

* * *

So the plot thickens! Anyway, I hope you liked it and I'll see you guys around next time!

'Rayne


	6. Chapter 6

Welcome Back to Renewing Embers!

Now I know the story moves a little slow and there is a reason for that. I'm trying to completely create a whole new world and village different from Konoha. Don't worry, the action will pick up later and there are a bunch of surprises coming up. I promise it's worth the wait.

Anyway, happy readings, and review if you feel the need. Reviews make me happy and being happy makes me write more. ^_^

**Disclaimer: I don't own and maybe never will. **

* * *

It was a full two weeks before Sakumo was able to see Kakashi again.

After Kakashi's skin grafts started healing, the medic-nins immediately put him on an extensive chakra healing program to close the remaining various wounds on his body. The healing skin tears and puncture wounds coupled with the newly healed digestive track had weakened Kakashi's body. His homeostasis was thrown off balance, which also caused his immune system to bottom out. The medic-nins were trying to heal multiple things at one time and Kakashi's body was just exhausted from the influx of chakra in his system. The threat of infection was greater than ever because of the weakening of his immune system and all visitors were barred from the ICU. If Kakashi even caught something as small as a cold then he could very well die.

So Sakumo stayed away and buried himself into his work. Paperwork was getting finished with lightning speed and his walks around the village began to get longer. The elder Hatake suddenly found his job to be very boring and uneventful. The only change to his mundane daily schedule was a visit from Mori Eiji, the Daimyo of Kazan.

Ryuji walked into the room with a particular skip in his step and found a very disturbing sight. Sakumo was slowly banging his head against a book in bored frustration. The green haired man stopped cold at seeing his friend and began to question his sanity. "Umm, Sakumo? You okay there?"

Sakumo stopped banging his head against the book and nodded. "I'm so bored."

Ryuji sighed, "Okay, seriously, you've never been bored with this job before. I think it's just because you want to be with Kakashi, but aren't allowed to."

Sakumo rolled his eyes, "No! That's not it. I finished all of my work early because I was worried about Kakashi and now all I'm left with is boredom."

"Well, turn that frown upside down because the north gate has caught sight of the Daimyo's carriage. You're about to have a really nice distraction."

Sakumo sighed, "I know Ryuji. The wards have already informed me of the barrier breach." Sakumo leaned back, "Ya know what? We should really tweak those seals so that they recognize certain people. That way the Daimyo could come as he pleases without setting off the barrier."

Ryuji shrugged, "It wouldn't be hard to do, but it would take a while. Maybe since you're in such an antsy mood you can go do it sometime this week."

"I could. It's actually a pretty good idea. I'm marking it on my to-do list." Sakumo reached into his desk and pulled out a notepad with several notes already jotted down on it.

Ryuji snickered at Sakumo, "You have a to-do list? I wanna see."

Sakumo held the notebook protectively to his chest. "No, it's mine and you can't see it."

Ryuji walked over menacingly, "Oh come on! What are you? Four?"

"I'll show you four. Now stop before I shoved this notebook up your…."

Sakumo's secretary walked in at the moment and pointed over her shoulder.

"The daimyo's here!"

Ryuji glared at Sakumo before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sakumo grinned at the spot where his friend was standing before turning to greet the elderly man. "Eiji, it's really good to see you again."

A tall elderly man with dark grey hair and twinkling green eyes smiled widely at Sakumo. The many wrinkles on his face stood out even more, but gave him a grandfatherly look. There was no denying the man was old, but he still had the spirit and mind of a man in his prime. His clothes were simple, not the exquisite robes and jewelry most daimyos favored. He wore a simple dark green shirt and dark cotton pants with an old brown traveler's coat opened to the third button. The only jewelry he wore was a wedding ring around his finger and a necklace pendant made from a piece of the dome covering the village. The pendant was what Eiji considered his 'crown' and he used it to identify himself as daimyo.

"No, it is good to see you, my friend." Sakumo walked over and embraced the older man. The Daimyo released the hug and laughed at his onetime captain, "Now tell me Sakumo, how come we do the same thing every time we see each other? When we see each other at least once a month?"

Sakumo shrugged and straightened his robe as he did so. "I think it's just habit now. You're getting up there in age old man, it's a surprise to see you still kicking."

Eiji laughed, "True. I secretly think you're trying to push me closer to my death with those weekly tales about the mess some of your shinobi get into. Later I'm going to have to get Ryuji to explain the pant-less guard recruit story."

"Now Jiiji, Sakumo-Ojisan isn't trying to kill you. It wouldn't work anyway. We all know you're going to be here for a long time and probably outlive us all because you're a stubborn old mule."

Sakumo grinned at the newcomer, the daimyo's granddaughter and future daimyo herself, Mori Hotaru. The silver haired man could still remember the first time he met the little firefly.

Ryuji and Sakumo were deep into Taki territory chasing after a rogue shinobi with a large bounty on his head. Since they were both on the run and starving, they started chasing down rogue ninjas in order to collect their bounties. Sakumo and Ryuji separated shortly after crossing the border of Taki so they could cover more ground and possibly collect the bounty sooner. They hadn't had a descent meal in days. That hunger coupled with Sakumo learning Konoha was sending more shinobi to the frontlines distracted the man enough to be taken by surprise by the rogue shinobi. Sakumo barely managed to escape with his life from the encounter. Cutoff from his partner and any help, Sakumo wandered along a stream leading away from Waterfall.

He was starving, injured and an emotional wreck when he stumbled onto the heartbreaking screams of a young child. The shinobi in Sakumo wouldn't allow him to walk away from the sound and he soon found himself running towards the piercing cries. What he found was the mutilated body of a man and the slowly dying body of a young woman with vivid orange hair. A child with hair matching the woman's clutched at the blood soaked dress of her mother and cried into the fabric.

The woman, whose name he later learned was Jun, begged him to take her child to her father-in-law's estate in the middle of an unmarked territory to the north of Fire Country. Sakumo agreed and waited with Jun as she slowly slipped into death's hold. He held her hand the entire time while the little girl curled up into her side. The little girl with bright bluish green eyes and flaming orange hair immediately latched onto Sakumo after her mother's death and refused to let go. After he buried the man and woman, Sakumo managed to coax her name out of her and was enthusiastically told by the little girl it was Mori Hotaru.

Sakumo remembered he couldn't help but laugh at the girl's name. Everything from her deep orange hair that had just the lightest tint of red to her bright personality and bluish green eyes screamed 'firefly.' Her mother and father had definitely named her well and it made Sakumo wonder if Kakashi would one day become a lonely scarecrow. After he gave the couple a proper burial, he and the little girl raced towards her grandfather's estate before whatever attacked her family could come back and finish what it started. Ryuji met up with them shortly after Sakumo buried the adults. He had managed to follow Sakumo's trail and was more than willing to help the little girl to her grandfather.

Mori Eiji was deeply upset about the fate of his son and daughter-in-law, but grateful Hotaru survived. It was because of Sakumo rescuing Hotaru that Eiji offered him and Ryuji a position on his guard detail. His decision to save Hotaru was one he never regretted and always appreciated. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have found Eiji and wouldn't have become kage of a new shinobi village. Which also meant his son might have died at the hands of the Oto shinobi. It was a chilling thought.

Hotaru had changed a lot since he found her as a little girl crying over her dying mother. She was now a young woman on the verge of becoming a teenager. She was definitely going to be a looker when she got older; she was already catching the eyes of many of the male shinobi around Kazan. A part of Sakumo felt the need to educate his shinobi on proper courting methods now that she was growing older and drawing attention to herself. If he caught one of them staring at her newly developed curves then he was going to hurt someone. He knew Ryuji would be there behind him five hundred percent.

The fiery haired girl practically ran over and threw her arms around Sakumo. She was just a few days shy of her thirteenth birthday and he could see the excitement in her eyes. Those eyes were still the same exotic blend of blue and green, almost the same color as sea water, and her hair was still the same vibrant orange. Except now, it was a darker shade. She still had the same lightning fast wit and tongue, something that would come in handy whenever she became daimyo. Sakumo couldn't help but smile. She had even grown taller. He released her and stepped back to give her a once over.

Like her grandfather, Hotaru didn't really care for the clothes of the wealthy. Today she was in a simple blue sundress with a white sash going around her waist. The color made the blue of her eyes pop dramatically. She was also wearing a brown traveler's coat similar to the one her grandfather was wearing. Sakumo could even see the barest hint of makeup around her eyes and lips. He didn't know if he liked the idea of her wearing makeup, but decided that he shouldn't mention it, just in case Eiji didn't know about it.

"Sakumo-Ojisan, is it true?"

"What?"

Hotaru looked over to Eiji and silently urged him to clarify what she was saying. Eiji pretended not to understand her for a few minutes before winking at Sakumo and speaking, "The stories that Ryuji-Ojisan and Yoshi-Oneesan have been sending us. Is your son really in Kazan now?"

Sakumo sighed, of course Ryuji and Yoshi wouldn't keep something like that from those two. He didn't mind, though. Eiji was the only one besides Ryuji that knew the full story behind Kakashi. It was only fair that Eiji wanted to know if Kakashi was alright.

"Yes, it is true. My son is in Kazan as we speak. He's in a medicated coma at the hospital while they repair his injuries from a run-in with some Oto shinobi."

Hotaru gasped softly, her eyes filling with worry. "Is he okay?"

Sakumo nodded, "Yeah, the worst is over now. They're just finishing up his healing process and hopefully will bring him out of the coma soon. I can't wait to actually hear his voice."

Hotaru smiled, "Can I meet him?"

Eiji was the one that sighed this time, "Hotaru, after he gets better. Sakumo needs to spend some time with him first and maybe next time you can."

Hotaru pouted, but agreed anyway. Sakumo patted her shoulder. "Maybe you can be the one to show him around Kazan when he wakes up. You can do that right?" She nodded, "Well good. Now, you've got a training session with Iwao-sensei today while your grandfather and I discuss some things."

"Yes sir." She quickly kissed her grandfather's cheek and took off out the door.

One of the things Eiji requested from Sakumo when he gave him the option of being Kaijinkage of Kazan was teaching Hotaru in the ways of the shinobi. He didn't specifically want Sakumo, but he wanted someone to show his granddaughter how to defend herself. Female Daimyos were far and few between because men thought they were weak and usually tried to overtake them or the same guards that were hired to protect a daimyo ended up killing her. Eiji never wanted his granddaughter to rely on guards to protect her because not every guard detail was as reliable as the one he made. So every time he came into Kazan, Sakumo arranged for a shinobi to tutor Hotaru.

So far her tutoring was paying off. She was able to defend herself back at the capital estate after one of the stable hands tried to force himself on her. She effectively stopped him cold after breaking his nose with a palm thrust and kneeing him in the groin. All techniques she learned from Yoshi. She wasn't going to be a genius shinobi, but she was able to defend herself and for that, Eiji couldn't have been more thankful.

He turned to look at Sakumo and frowned at the other man who was staring off into space. "Hey, I'm the old man here. I'm the one that's supposed to space out."

"Sorry, just thinking."

"You shouldn't do that, it'll give you wrinkles. I should know."

Sakumo chuckled to himself before looking out the opened door. "She's really grown."

"She has, but something tells me that isn't what you want to talk about. Was it shocking seeing him after all these years?"

Sakumo nodded, "Scary is more like it. He nearly died before they got him into Kazan and then he did die a few times on the operating table. I haven't even seen him yet without bandages and wires covering him. Hell, I haven't seen him in two weeks."

The Daimyo led the way back to Sakumo's desk and sat down in the chair in front of it. Sakumo took his seat behind the desk. "You have a long road ahead of you with Kakashi. I'm not one to sugarcoat things and you know that Sakumo, but I think you may need to prepare yourself for some hostility from Kakashi. You're a great friend of mine Sakumo, but at the end of the day you still abandoned him in Konoha."

Sakumo winced at the word 'abandoned.' "I had no choice. He hated me and wouldn't have gone with me. I'm not even sure if he would have let me leave without turning me in."

Eiji sighed, "Sakumo, we've had this discussion many times. He was seven; children are going to say they hate their parents and not mean it. I'm just advising you to not expect a warm welcome when he wakes up."

Sakumo nodded, "I'm not. I know he's going to be angry, but I just hope he will acknowledge me. Hopefully one day everything will fall back into place."

Eiji smiled again and nodded, "Agreed. Now, let's go see him."

"Don't you have an appointment at the hot springs?"

The grey haired man shrugged, "They'll wait. I want to see if this kid is a clone of you."

"I don't even know if we can see him. He was in isolation, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to go see." Sakumo stood up and together they walked towards the hospital.

* * *

"I was right, he is a little clone of you."

Sakumo grinned as he gently stroked the limp hair on Kakashi's forehead back. He silently wondered when the last time someone washed the boy's hair. "He's not the perfect little clone of me. He's got a lot of his mother in him."

Eiji walked over and watched the two silently. Kakashi was still wrapped in bandages and wires, but the breathing tube had been removed. Eiji also couldn't help but notice how small the boy was. He sighed thoughtfully, "No, but he's close enough."

Sakumo stopped petting Kakashi to turn and look at the elder man. "Something is bothering you."

Eiji nodded, "You've heard about Konoha's past year right?" Sakumo nodded. "No one knows if Kazan is real or a silly rumor. All anyone is sure of is that I'm somehow tied to it. I received a letter from Sarutobi Hiruzen asking if I could confirm the existence of the village. He's trying to strike up allies."

"Konoha would never work as an ally for us because of my history there. Danzo would tear us apart."

Eiji grinned, "But Danzo didn't send me the letter; Hiruzen did."

Sakumo's eyes widened in understanding, "He's planning a rebellion."

"Fits doesn't it? Namikaze Minato dies after destroying the Kyuubi and leaves behind the Third to take his old position back. The Third is in office maybe a month and then comes down with a mysterious illness. A new Hokage takes his place, one that has a history of trickery and manipulation. I'm thinking that Danzo has pissed off the wrong person and they're finally fighting back."

Sakumo ran his fingers through his bangs in frustration, "The only way we'll know how Danzo is doing is to talk to someone that lives in Konoha." He turned to stare at Kakashi. "Our only option is comatose and even then, I don't know if he'll tell us anything. Technically, Kazan is not his village. Treason is a high crime in Konoha and no doubt Kakashi's going to be tightlipped about the village."

Eiji nodded, "I forgot. Usually everyone that comes through those gates is a runaway. Kakashi here isn't a runaway."

"I really don't know and won't 'til he wakes up."

"It's a grim situation. I guess we wait then." Eiji watched Sakumo for a few more minutes before walking towards the door. "I do have an appointment at the hot springs. We're not going to be able to stay the week this time. I have business at the capital that needs to be taken care of, but we'll stop by before I leave so Hotaru can say bye."

Sakumo waved to the man before turning back to Kakashi. "Will you tell me your secrets when you wake up?"

* * *

Sakumo stayed by his son's side until Ryuji came to inform him the Daimyo and his granddaughter were leaving.

Yoshi hugged the smaller girl tightly, "Now you make sure you write and tell me all about your adventures."

Hotaru glared, "My adventures? I wake up, eat, study, eat again and go back to sleep. I have no life and no adventures."

Yoshi laughed and squeezed the girl again, "Well, we'll just have to get you a boyfriend now won't we?"

The three males in the room all looked up at that and shook their heads. Yoshi rolled her eyes at them. "Ignore them, they're idiots."

Hotaru laughed as she moved away to stand beside her grandfather. The elderly man rested a hand on her shoulder and grinned. "It has been a pleasure and I wish we could stay longer, but there is urgent business that needs to be taken care of at the capital. My job is never done it seems."

Sakumo chuckled, "Have a safe trip back. Do you want me to send Ryuji or one of the others with you?"

Eiji shook his head, "No, we'll be fine with our guards." He began walking out the door, but stopped and turned to Sakumo, "Remember what I said, Sakumo, and when he wakes up, send word. I want to meet him in person."

Sakumo nodded and watched as Hotaru ran to catch up with her grandfather. Yoshi smiled as she walked over to stand beside Ryuji and Sakumo. Ryuji had been strangely quiet the entire day. She bumped him with her hip, "Cat got your tongue?"

He shook his head and turned to Sakumo, "I'm heading home. It's been a long day. I'm also probably going to take Yoshi with me because I need to go shopping and she likes to haggle the merchants out of their best produce."

Yoshi smirked, "It's a special talent of mine."

Ryuji walked forward and in a singsong voice teased Yoshi, "And here I thought that was having sex."

Sakumo rolled his eyes after the two as Yoshi took off screaming after the green haired man. He swore up and down they were children trapped in adult bodies. Just as Sakumo was getting ready to pack up and leave, a tap sounded against his door. "Come in."

Kaito the medic-nin walked in with a smile on his face. "We've done enough healing on Kakashi that he's well enough for us to pull him out of his coma."

Sakumo stopped everything he was doing and smiled at the medic. "Really? When will he wake up?"

"It depends on him. Tomorrow we are stopping the medicine that put him into the coma and once it's out of his system then he'll wake up like normal. He'll still be sore and exhausted, but he won't be in any life threatening danger. He'll be on bed rest for probably three weeks or so because his body is still recovering. I also want to start monitoring his diet after he wakes up. His weight bothers me especially now since he hasn't had any solid food in nearly three weeks."

Sakumo nodded, "So he'll wake up any day now?"

Kaito nodded, "Any day now."

"Thanks Kaito for taking such great care of him. I don't know what I would have done if he wouldn't have made it."

Kaito flushed at the compliment. "I'm only doing my job Kaijinkage-sama. Kakashi will also need to see me at least once a week 'til his skin graft is healed completely. Just to check for infection.

Sakumo nodded and watched happily as the medic walked out of his office. He felt like he could dance in the streets he was so happy, but instead of dancing, he walked. It was close to dusk and the sun was setting low in the sky. Shops were just closing up in the market square and shinobi were jumping across rooftops on their way to different missions around the village. Children played 'ninja' in the streets and when they recognized him, they begged him to play with them. As much as he wanted to, Sakumo patted their heads and told them he would another day. They pouted, but accepted the excuse and ran off to finish their game.

Sakumo sighed deeply as he walked out of the village and onto the trails that led to the volcanoes. He loved to walk the trails because they helped him clear his mind and actually focus enough to think. By the time he made it to the top of the volcano, the first stars were twinkling overhead. Sakumo smiled at them before laying back on a rock and watching them twinkle. His heart was heavy, but he ignored it. Learning that Sarutobi was not only leading a rebellion, but asking for Kazan's help concerned Sakumo. He needed insider information before they agreed to help out.

The fatigued man rubbed a hand across his eyes before standing up and bringing his hands up to form the hand seal for the Shunshin. He took one last look at the stars and disappeared.

* * *

Sarutobi found Iruka crying silently in the boy's bedroom. The covers were pushed to the floor and the pillows were torn to shreds. The elder man had just come back from his unofficial visit to Naruto. The poor babe wasn't doing so well under Danzo's care. Hiruzen had long since taken Iruka underneath his wing and cared for the boy like a son, so he knew something was wrong when Iruka didn't visit Naruto with him.

"Iruka? Something wrong?"

Iruka nodded and held out a hitai-ate with the Leaf's spiral on it. With a watery voice Iruka spoke, "I became a genin today." The Sandaime nodded before sitting on the bed beside him and taking the hitai-ate from Iruka's hands. He was shocked to find blood smeared across the back of it. "I'm finally a shinobi."

Hiruzen made to touch the boy and stopped as he saw him flinch away. "What did they do to you, Iruka?"

Iruka had a haunted look in his eyes. "Not just me; everybody. They introduced a new section to the genin test."

The elderly man's heart thumped wildly in his chest as he waited for Iruka to continue speaking. He was dreading the next words out of the boy's mouth. "What was it Iruka?"

Iruka hiccupped and coughed violently before bursting into tears and burying his head into the older man's chest. "Th-they made us kill a target. Mi-mine was this li-little girl from Suna. She h-h-had the prettiest b-blue eyes."

The Third Hokage held on tight to Iruka, killing was part of being a shinobi, but no one introduced a genin to killing like this. Danzo was going too far. His grip unintentionally tightened around Iruka as he tried to calm the whimpering boy down. A part of Hiruzen wondered if this was Danzo's way of getting back at him for sending Asuma to the capital.

* * *

Things are heating up in Konoha, is the darkness coming across well? Kakashi's getting ready to wake up so just how will he react to seeing Sakumo for the first time? And little Naruto is shrouded in secrecy.

I hope you guys liked this chapter and don't forget to review and whatnot.

Until next time,

'Rayne


	7. Chapter 7

Here is the long-awaited chapter, our dear teenage Copy Ninja finally wakes up from his beauty sleep. Now I will warn ya, Kakashi has a potty mouth and isn't afraid of using it. Sakumo gets to lay down the law later, but we have to get through the next few chapters before we can get to the fun stuff. ;P I will also warn ya that there is a little OOCness on Kakashi's part, but I find his reaction justified because of the situation. Anyone is free to disagree with me, but in my opinion, with Kakashi being 13 and just having his entire world turned upside down, shaken, burned up, and stomped on, I think his reaction would be more than just a slight widening of the eyes. ^_^

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I really don't own this and if I did then why would I write fanfiction?**

**Once again edited by the wonderfully sharp-eyed and defeater of commas Chacha1. **

Anyway, thanks for the reviews and please continue reviewing to help me see if there's anything I can do to improve my writing style.

Happy Readings

* * *

Sakumo went to the hospital every day for the next week to see if Kakashi was awake yet. Unfortunately for him, his son was still slumbering away. Many of Kakashi's injuries had already been healed thanks to the intense chakra therapy the medic-nins were using, but his body was still going to be sore. The only drawback about using chakra to heal wounds was the fact they still hurt after they were healed. All of Kakashi's internal work was done and his body was completely free of everything except the painkillers they had him on and the IV fluids. They still hadn't taken Kakashi off of the heart monitor, but they did move him from ICU to a private room.

Yoshi visited too, bringing flowers every time she did. To her, flowers were magical little things that brightened the room and made the atmosphere better. Yoshi was a firm believer that the mood in the room could affect the patient's healing progress, so she tried to make the room as bright and inviting as she could.

Ryuji was always there. Sakumo asked him to watch Kakashi after he was moved to a private room. The kage just didn't know if there was anyone that would want to do his son harm, so he figured they were better safe than sorry. Ryuji didn't mind, he got to catch up on his reading while he watched the kid.

Sakumo started developing a routine shortly after Kakashi was moved to his room. He would get up early, finish his work as quickly as he could and then go sit with Kakashi. Today was no different, except that his secretary surprised him with a stack of papers detailing a treaty between Kazan and Takigakure.

The treaty was a great idea because they wanted to be on good terms with their neighbors to the west, but signing the treaty could possibly lead to Konoha finding out about the existence of the village. Kazan had several small treaties with a couple of the smaller countries around the great shinobi nations, but with each treaty an agreement was struck where the shinobi would not mention the existence of the village 'til Sakumo gave the approval. Surprisingly enough, the countries kept their promises.

Keeping Kazangakure a secret from the major shinobi nations was a must. If any of them found out about the outcast village, then an attack was imminent. Sakumo knew his shinobi were talented, but they would never survive a full on attack from a village like Konoha or Iwa. They would simply have to wait for their numbers to add up before going completely public and introducing their village to the shinobi nations. Until then, Sakumo was happy making friends with the little guys and setting up a strong backup plan if his original didn't work.

Agreeing to a treaty with Waterfall was a great idea because they would be the first major shinobi village to seek out Kazan. Sakumo placed the treaty on his desk and sighed deeply. It was sent by bird because the Taki shinobi didn't know where their village was located. The bird had simply flown around 'til he found someone that looked similar to a shinobi. Luckily, it was one of the patrol squads that found the bird and not one of Orochimaru's men. If Sakumo wanted the treaty then he would need to send some of his shinobi to escort the Taki delegates into Kazan. It was a process that threatened to give Sakumo a pounding headache.

"Arata! Come here!"

A shinobi with light brown hair and his headband tied over his eyes appeared. Arata was a diamond in the rough. When he was younger he had the potential to be a great shinobi, possibly greater than Sakumo and the Sannin combined. Then tragedy struck. Due to a training session gone wrong he was blinded at eleven-years-old. The village he hailed from removed him from their ranks and forgot about their one time golden boy.

One of Sakumo's squads found him during one of their missions in the Land of Tea begging for food. The captain took pity on the blinded boy and offered to pay for a couple of meals. Arata jumped on the idea and quietly told them about his time as a shinobi.

The captain listened intently before whispering into the boy's ear of the promise Kazan offered him. At first Arata was hesitant, but eventually he followed after the Kazan shinobi and was allowed entrance into the village. Sakumo could still remember the scrawny little boy that could barely hold his head up as he asked if he was allowed to beg in the streets.

Ryuji took an instant liking to the blind boy and started working with him to improve his skills. It turned out Arata was very sensitive to chakra. He could pinpoint almost exactly where a specific person was standing in the village if he knew their chakra pattern. He explained he could feel and smell the pattern in the chakra that helped him find the people. Because of his talent in sensing chakra, Arata was quickly winning himself a promotion to tokubetsu jounin.

Sakumo loved putting Arata on search and rescue missions because the boy was just that good at what he did. Well, Arata wasn't a boy anymore. If Sakumo remembered right, he just celebrated his sixteenth birthday. Another great aspect of Arata's talent was that any barrier using chakra was also felt by him. The teenager always mockingly complained when he was on sentry duty because he could constantly feel the tug of the chakra from the wards. That little talent was the reason Sakumo needed him.

"You rang?"

Sakumo smiled at the young man, "I need a favor."

Arata's face brightened, "Does it involve alcohol of any kind?"

"No it doesn't."

"Damn then, so what's the favor?"

Sakumo sighed before moving the papers around on his desk. He pulled one out and began to read it to Arata. "The rumors surrounding this unmarked territory are astounding and awe-inspiring. If there really is a hidden shinobi village in the valley dominated by volcanoes, then we wish to seek a peace treaty between us. Signed by the leader of Takigakure."

Arata nodded, "Well, that sounds all proper and nice. What's it got to do with me?"

"You are up for promotion. Did you know that?"

Arata blushed hotly, "No sir, I didn't. But with my eyes…."

"Your skill in chakra sensing is enough to make you a tokubetsu jounin. Your skill is also why I need you to go on a mission for me."

Arata straightened his back and slowly the blush melted away. "Yes sir!"

Sakumo grinned again, "I want you to go to Taki and leave a note for them from me. The only thing is that you need to do this without being seen, heard, felt, or most importantly caught. Taki wants a treaty with us and I want to scare them straight. If you can somehow get past all of their shinobi, barriers, seals and whatever else they have there to leave them a note can you imagine how shocked they would be?"

The brown haired boy nodded excitedly, "It would be almost like a ghost left it. They would certainly fear us. I'll do it."

Sakumo quickly wrote on a scroll the date and time when he would send some shinobi to meet with the Taki delegates. Then he signed and sealed the scroll before handing it to Arata. "I'm considering this mission your tokubetsu jounin exam. Good luck."

Arata disappeared quickly, leaving Sakumo to sit out the rest of the day thinking over the treaty. He reached back over into his desk and pulled out another scroll. This one he sent to the capital for the Daimyo. The man needed to know about the potential treaty with Taki. Then he was going to the hospital to check on Kakashi.

* * *

Kakashi hurt.

Everything from the tips of his toes to the hair on his head pounded in time with his heartbeat. He wanted nothing more than to pass back out and eventually he did. He welcomed the mind numbing darkness and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Sakumo sighed deeply and stretched as he walked into Kakashi's room. Ryuji was sitting in a chair across the room reading a book. He waved at Sakumo lazily as the other man sat on the edge of Kakashi's bed. Ryuji stopped reading and pointed at Kakashi.

"He woke up today."

Sakumo's eyes brightened happily and he reached over to grasp Kakashi's hand. "Did he talk?"

Ryuji shook his head. "He didn't even open his eyes, but he did move and whimper before going back to sleep. I had the nurse give him some more pain meds because it looked like he was in pain."

Sakumo was silent as he gently rubbed comforting circles on Kakashi's hand with his thumb. A part of him wished Kakashi would wake up, but he didn't want him to be in any pain when he finally did.

* * *

The gentle rubbing and extra weight on the bed roused Kakashi's shinobi instincts. Even in the haze of painkillers, he could tell someone was on his bed. He didn't know where he was at, nor could he remember how he got there, but he figured he was in a hospital.

He half expected it to be just a random nurse trying to look underneath his mask, but the gentle circles being rubbed onto his hand said otherwise. The nurses never stayed long enough to actually comfort their shinobi patients because they were too busy dealing with others. Truth be told, most shinobi patients wouldn't accept the gentle touches.

All Kakashi knew was his body hurt and he felt horrible, but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes and see who was trying to comfort him. One part of him wanted to accept the comfort, but another part wanted to push the warm hand away. Kakashi finally decided to just ignore it and drifted back into a medicated sleep.

* * *

"Ya know, he's really a light sleeper. Every time I would turn a page his toe would twitch"

Sakumo grinned widely, "He's always been a light sleeper. Whenever he was a baby the house had to be completely quiet or he always woke up. Took after his mother on that one."

Ryuji balanced his book onto the arm of the chair and stood up, "I've got to go to the bathroom. Be back in a minute."

Sakumo nodded before standing up, walking over to the window and watching the outside world. Thanks to the last minute planning on how to deal with Taki, it was nearing dusk when he arrived at the hospital. Fireflies were just beginning to pop out randomly around the village as the children attempted to catch them in jars and bottles.

Summer would always be the silver haired man's favorite part of the year because of memories of long kisses beneath the setting sun with fireflies floating overhead. Sakumo sighed deeply and rubbed a hand across his eyes, this wasn't the time to think about Ai, not when their child was lying asleep on a hospital bed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kakashi move around on the bed. His entire body tensed and he slowed his breathing as Kakashi slowly sat up in bed and rubbed furiously at his eyes. Kakashi seemed lost in his own personal world as he began touching his side where the skin graft was still healing. The wince on his face told Sakumo that the newly stitched on skin still hurt. Without putting too much pressure on his side, Kakashi reached down to his leg and gently touched it too. Sakumo was awarded with another grimace on his son's face.

His heart was pounding hard against his chest as he watched Kakashi slowly lift his head and lock eyes with him. Sakumo's own eyes widened as he saw the blood red Sharingan with two black tomoe spinning wildly. Quickly, Kakashi closed that eye and stared at his father with his dark one. The hand that wasn't bandaged came up and rubbed at the opened eye. Sakumo's back was straight against the window and his jaw is clenched tight because he's afraid. He vaguely wonders if he looks like a ghost with the orange glow of the setting sun behind him. He caught the look on Kakashi's face and isn't surprised to see the complete disbelief there.

Kakashi rubbed his eyes one last time before humorlessly laughing. It's a dry, old sound that doesn't fit with his youthful appearance. Kakashi shook his head in disbelief before lying back in bed, talking to himself. Sakumo can also see the way his arms move to self-consciously wrap around himself. He doubts Kakashi even realizes that he's doing it and it makes Sakumo's heart ache to think about the emotional pain Kakashi must feel if he has to hug himself. It makes him wonder what exactly he accomplished by leaving Kakashi in Konoha. He suddenly feels very selfish.

"Great, now I'm seeing things. Hatake, you better stop shit like this or you'll end up failing the next psych evaluation."

Sakumo is slightly bothered by his son's language, but doesn't comment on it. He's more worried about the fact Kakashi thinks what he's seeing is a hallucination. It made him wonder just how many times Kakashi has seen things he can't explain. It worried him because all he can see is Kakashi waking up from a night terror with wide eyes and reaching hands only to find nothing beside him because Sakumo's gone. The elder Hatake realized very quickly that he missed a lot. He should have been there for his son, but nothing can be done about it now.

Sakumo decided to throw caution to the wind and took a step closer to Kakashi. He smiled sadly as he reached the end of Kakashi's bed and shook his head slowly.

"You're not hallucinating Kakashi." Sakumo took another step closer and sat against the foot of Kakashi's hospital bed. His son is practically swallowed by white. The sheets are white, his bandages are white and his face is slowly turning a pasty white. Everything is too white. "I'm really here."

Kakashi continued staring at what he thinks is an illusion before laughing harder. The laughing hurts his still bruised ribs, but the pain reminds him that he's alive so he doesn't worry about it. A small part of Kakashi actually liked the pain. He just wished he could remember why he's in the hospital.

He threw up his hands in a mock show of frustration before rolling his eyes, "Now it talks. Why don't you just disappear? You're not accomplishing anything by being here." With those words, Kakashi moved his uninjured leg slowly and firmly kicked Sakumo, thinking the image would disappear if he tried to touch it.

Sakumo watched as Kakashi's face twisted into something close to pure horror. He starts looking around the room and very quickly realizes that he doesn't recognize the hospital room.

An unnerving thought enters Kakashi's mind because he doesn't think he's in Konoha. His mind begins racing because he can't understand why the illusion won't disappear. The hallucinations never stay after he touched them, so why was this one any different? Was this the true ghost of his father come back to haunt him in death? Another thought raced through Kakashi's head, was this still the ANBU exams? Was he still testing and this was someone's clever idea to break him? Well, he wasn't going to break that easily. Even with his hurting hand, Kakashi brings them together to dispel what he believes is either a henge or genjutsu. Nothing happens. Not even a tiny ripple. Kakashi opened the eye containing the Sharingan and feels like kicking himself for not thinking of using Obito's eye sooner. The man in front of him had a distinct chakra pattern and wasn't an illusion or under a genjutsu. The traitorous voice in Kakashi's head told him that he already knew that, Obito's Sharingan was open when he first looked at the man. Something very wrong was going on in the hospital room and Kakashi didn't like it at all.

Kakashi growls low in his throat before leaning towards the silver haired man in front of him. "This isn't fucking funny."

Sakumo's mind snaps in anger at the word his son used. Kakashi was a child and shouldn't use words like that. Automatically his voice took on the authoritarian voice it used to take whenever he was punishing Kakashi. Kakashi had never been physically punished by Sakumo. Ai, though, hadn't any qualms about popping Kakashi if the situation called for it. Their child rarely needed it, though, because he was usually a good, sweet kid. Sakumo went a different route with his punishments and used his voice to show Kakashi his displeasure in his actions. It was the same voice he used now.

"You watch your mouth Hatake Kakashi!"

Kakashi froze in the bed. He recognized that voice, a voice no genjutsu or henge could imitate. The same voice he used to tear up over because it usually meant the man was disappointed in him. That was his father's voice. That was Hatake Sakumo's voice. Kakashi was stunned; his father was alive. He let the realization sink into his mind; his father was alive. He didn't understand why all of a sudden he saw red. His breathing increased and the heart monitor beside his bed beeped louder and faster. Kakashi was furious; his father was still alive and had been for years. He doesn't think after that moment, he attacks.

* * *

Everything happened so fast. One minute Kakashi is sitting in the bed, the next Sakumo is on the ground with a throbbing jaw and Kakashi is against the opposite wall writhing in pain. One of Sakumo's guards knocked the boy there after he took a shot at Sakumo. The heart monitor is going off loudly from being disconnected from Kakashi, alerting the medical staff who are all peering into the door with identical looks of horror and disbelief on their faces. Kakashi is moaning in pain and pressing a hand to his side. The hand is soaked in blood; his entire side a bloody mess where his stitches tore after hitting the wall.

Kaito walked into the room and shut the door behind him so he could take care of Kakashi once the situation was back under control. Sakumo gently touched his jaw and knows the bone is at least cracked and will swell beautifully by morning. Anger burned in Sakumo's veins as he ordered his guards to leave them. They all hesitate before realizing their kage means business.

The one who hit Kakashi looked back at Sakumo with confusion in his eyes. He's hesitant to leave his kage with someone that just hurt him. Sakumo mustered all of the anger in his body and forced it into a freezing glare. The guard tensed before disappearing from the room.

As the guard left, Ryuji walked in with worry in his eyes and stood beside Kaito. He could hear the machine beeping all the way in the bathroom and the whispering nurses in the hallway wouldn't tell him a thing. He looked down in the medic-nin's hand and noticed that the other shinobi had a syringe clutched tightly at his side.

"What happened? Everyone's going crazy out there."

Sakumo doesn't answer Ryuji; instead he picked himself up and went over to sit beside Kakashi. The boy is acting like a wounded animal and weakly trying to move away from Sakumo. Kakashi attempts one last desperate attack on Sakumo, only to find himself held down by Kaito. The medic-nin holds the struggling teenager and shows Sakumo the needle in his hand. He silently begs the kage to allow him to give it to Kakashi, but Sakumo shakes his head. Kaito looked down at the struggling boy before releasing him and watching as he pushed himself flat against the wall.

Kakashi doesn't know what triggered it, but all of a sudden everything crashed down on him. He remembered everything, the mission from Danzo to scout out Oto, learning the truth about Danzo from Orochimaru, being chased by the Oto shinobi into a golden wheat field. It all comes back to him. The months of loneliness and bloodshed while he was burning his way through S-ranked ANBU missions. Everything coupled with the funny feeling that he was forgetting something very important twisted a knot in Kakashi's stomach. All of his emotions buzzed around his body furiously and his body wasn't listening to him as he tried to will himself to calm down. Suddenly, Kakashi found hot, bitter tears of frustration and hatred falling down his cheeks. He pulled his knees up close to his body and cried into the fabric of his pants, feeling so very ashamed of losing his cool. For the first time in a long time, Kakashi felt his age and all the unstable emotions and hormones that came with that age erupt violently throughout his body.

Sakumo's heart broke in that moment and he quickly reached over to pull Kakashi into his arms, needing to be the father he wasn't before. The teenager weakly beat against his father's chest before molding into his arms. Kakashi's entire body was shaking. His angry tears and shaking body were outwardly showing the torment of emotions swirling around inside his head and heart. Sakumo buried his face into Kakashi's silver hair, but was quickly shaken off as Kakashi slowly realized who was holding him. He shook his head slowly and backed away from Sakumo with tears still clinging to his eyelashes. The sight of the tear streaked cheeks of his only child burning a hole in Sakumo's heart.

"No….no….no….no. You're supposed to be dead! I saw your body! I saw the house explode! I read the fucking letter you left! You left me." Kakashi's arm is shaking more than ever as he pointed accusingly at Sakumo. "You fucking coward! You left me!"

Ryuji is silent throughout the entire exchange, but he sees the ashamed and disappointed look plastered on Sakumo's face. He watched Kakashi slowly continue to scoot away from Sakumo and reach up with his good arm to pull himself to a standing position. The chair he used for leverage tilted with his body weight and Kakashi soon found himself in Sakumo's arms once more. This does nothing for the boy's attitude towards his father though. As soon as Kakashi's on his feet, he pushed Sakumo away and stumbled to the bed. His face twisting in pain as he put pressure on his tender leg.

"Kakashi, listen to me."

"Hell no! Get the fuck out of this room, now!"

"You will not talk to me like that. You're a child."

"I haven't been a child for a long time. Not since you died or better yet, abandoned me in Konoha. How dare you just come back like this! Why don't you do me a favor and go back to being dead?"

Sakumo stilled and looked at Kakashi with pleading eyes. He walked over and tried once more. "Ka-chan, please."

Kakashi tensed at the childhood nickname and his eye watered a little more, but he steeled his resolve and glared hard at the elder Hatake. He picked up the flower vase on the bedside table and threw it angrily at the opposite wall. For a moment Kakashi looks around and notices the other occupants in the room, he feels shame welling up inside his chest. Sakumo stood in stunned shock as Kakashi placed his hands listlessly on the bed and looked down at the white sheets. His voice was strangely quiet and tired as he spoke a final time. "Just fucking leave. You lost the right to call me that."

Sakumo watched Kakashi for a few more seconds before blinking rapidly and walking out of the hospital room. His guard detail was waiting outside for him and silently followed behind as he left the hospital. He ignored everyone on his way home and remained silent for the rest of the night.

Kaito waited 'til after Sakumo left before walking over to stitch Kakashi up. The silver haired boy tensed before turning on his side and allowing the medic-nin to stitch his side.

Ryuji left shortly after Sakumo did because he needed some time to think over what he was going to say to Kakashi. So that left Kaito and Kakashi alone in the hospital room. As Kaito stitched the skin back together, he tried to ignore the slight shaking and soft sobs coming from his patient.

"Everything's back in place. Only a few stitches tore so it was easy to fix. I'll monitor it for infection for the next few days." Kakashi nodded quietly. "I know you're most likely not up to it right now, so in the morning I'll tell you more about your diagnosis." Once more Kakashi silently nodded.

Ryuji walked back into the room after Kaito left to greet the silver haired kid. He knew Kakashi's anger was justified, but Sakumo deserved a chance to explain himself. Kakashi wasn't even giving him that. The teenager looked up and glared at the green haired man, but the effect was ruined by the tear tracks still upon his cheeks. Ryuji simply slapped Kakashi's injured leg and sat down on the bed. He watched as Kakashi bit back a howl of pain.

"Kid, me and you need to talk about something."

"I'm not a child."

"Don't give me that shit. After what I just saw? I've seen two-year-olds talk to their parents better than you just did."

Anger flashed in Kakashi's eyes. "I owe him nothing! He's the one that left me!"

Ryuji sighed deeply and placed a hand on Kakashi's leg. The boy moved his leg away and glared harder. Ryuji seemed immune to his glares, though, and ignored it. "I know, Kakashi, I know. I understand you're angry and brooding like a girl right now, but you had no right to treat him the way you did. You haven't even let him explain himself to you. I don't commend what your father did and I certainly don't commend what you did either, but he needs a chance to explain himself."

Kakashi stared quietly at the wall in front of him. He refused to feel bad about what he said to his father, even though he could feel the beginnings of guilt edging its way up his spine. "I have nothing to say to him."

Ryuji looked over Kakashi once more before stepping away. "Fine. While you're thinking about everything, I want you to know that your dad stayed by your side every single day 'til he knew you were going to live."

With those words said, Ryuji left the room, leaving behind a silent and emotionally drained Kakashi.

* * *

Sakumo returned to Kakashi's hospital room right before dawn and watched Kakashi sleep. While getting his jaw healed, Kaito informed Sakumo that most of Kakashi's injuries were healed, but aggravated after yesterday's altercation. The Kaijinkage closed his eyes in sadness before leaving the room and walking to his office.

Kakashi knew his father was in his room as soon as the man stepped inside, even though he was turned away facing the wall. Not only was his chakra signal a huge sign, but the scent of his father was stronger. A scent that reminded him of laughter and warmth. A scent that made him sick now because it was a lie. After his mother died, Sakumo promised him that he wouldn't leave him and then he did. Kakashi hated liars and cowards more than anything else.

Anger burned deeply in Kakashi's veins. Yes, he had been angry with his father for failing that mission because he was hearing rumors and stories from everyone but his dad. Sakumo refused to talk to him about it and left Kakashi to pull together the story from other sources. All of the other sources said Sakumo wasn't a good shinobi because he failed that mission. If Sakumo would have talked to him then maybe none of that would have happened.

Kakashi was more than just angry about the mission, though. Sakumo took it upon himself to decide he was going to kill himself and then destroyed the house too. The same house Kakashi was raised in. The same house his mother called home. The same house that held all of his memories of their family. All of that was gone in a blazing inferno because Sakumo had to cover his tracks.

It made Kakashi wonder if Sakumo knew what he left his son to. Kakashi had no one, except Minato. He had no family willing to take him in nor did he have a house to stay in. Kakashi was forced to take Minato's charity and live with him. Even after the housing situation was taken care of, no one trusted Kakashi because of Sakumo. Everyone blamed Kakashi for Sakumo's decision and nothing he did or said changed that.

Kakashi had every right to hate Sakumo because even after all of that, everything he endured for his dead father, it turned out the man was still alive. That one truth hurt worse than everything else Kakashi had happen to him because it was his father wounding him. Kakashi couldn't help but wonder why Sakumo didn't take him along when he left. The insecure part of Kakashi wondered if he wasn't good enough for his dad. Was that why Sakumo left him? Because he wasn't the son that he needed him to be?

Kakashi rolled onto his back and gently massaged his bandaged hand. He was all too aware of the fact he wasn't in Konoha and he wasn't wearing his mask. He didn't know what bothered him more, though. Deep down inside, Kakashi knew he couldn't return to Konoha because of Danzo. Danzo ordered his death and obviously thought him dead, so that left Kakashi to ponder exactly what he was going to do with the rest of his life. How would this change affect him?

Kakashi sighed deeply once more before groaning, he didn't even know the name of the place he was at. Kakashi yawned deeply before trying to fall back into some form of sleep. A state that didn't come easy for the teen.

* * *

*looks out from behind couch* So how'd ya like it? I know Kakashi was a little teary eyed and a lot emotional, but I found it fitting. Don't worry, he mellows out a lot over the next few chapters as the two try to work out their differences and issues.

So if you've got any questions or comments please leave them in a review!

Until Next Time,

'Rayne


	8. Chapter 8

I'm so happy that Kakashi's reaction was meet with such kind reviews! This is really a challenge for me because I want nothing more for Kakashi to run into Sakumo's arms and forgive him, but that's not plausible nor right. Sakumo did the boy wrong and it's going to be a while before Kakashi even considers the man his father. So the next few chapters will be this new development between Sakumo and Kakashi, let's see how it goes. I do want to say to my reviewers that I'm touched this brought out such emotion and I hope I can do the rest of this story justice.

Happy Readings.

**Disclaimer: In the event that Kishimoto ever allows me to own Naruto, please be aware that Naruto will magically turn female and Sakumo will come back to life. **

* * *

"Good morning Kakashi! I've brought you some more flowers today."

Kakashi instantly snapped up from his uneasy sleep and startled the black haired woman idly chatting beside his bed. She dropped the flowers and clutched at her heart before running a hand over her eyes in relief.

"You scared me! I thought you were still asleep."

Yoshi watched Kakashi study her for a few minutes. He was favoring his left side and gently cradling his hand against his chest. The woman couldn't help but feel like his lone eye was trying to burn through to her soul. When the younger boy finally spoke, Yoshi's heart went out to him. His voice was hoarse and dry from under use.

"W-who are you?"

She put on her best smile before reaching down to pick up the dropped flowers. When she came back up, she immediately began searching for the vase that the old flowers resided in. She swore she left it on the small table beside the bed, but it wasn't there. Absentmindedly, she answered his question. "I'm Yoshi. When did you wake up? Do you want some water?"

Kakashi regarded her with a wary eye before answering, "Yesterday evening." He looked at her again in distrust before shaking his head. "No, I'm fine."

Yoshi stopped looking around the room and placed her hands on her hips in frustration. Sighing deeply she asked, "Are you sure? It would be no problem at all." Pausing a moment, she smiled sadly to herself, remembering the anguish Sakumo felt while Kakashi was in his coma. "We were worried about you." She turned to look at him, "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to the vase that was in here, would you?"

Kakashi couldn't help but blush at her question. A part of him was ashamed that he lost his temper and control so easily. He still couldn't believe he threw the vase. "I kind of threw it at the wall."

Yoshi blinked in surprise. "Oh? Why'd you do a thing like that?"

Kakashi remained silent and Yoshi decided it was probably better if she left it alone. So instead of worrying about the vase, she placed the bouquet on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of his bed. She ignored the tensing of his muscles and reached over to run her fingers through his hair, just as she'd done while he was asleep.

After a few seconds, Kakashi grabbed her hand and moved it away from his hair.

The black haired woman crossed her arms as she glared at the boy. "What's wrong? Too big to have someone comfort you?"

"I don't know you. How do I know you're not some enemy that's going to slit my throat as soon as I get comfortable with you?"

"Good point, except that I've brought you flowers and visited with you every day since they put you in this room. I'm no danger to you."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I don't know you or even where I'm at."

Yoshi scratched her head in thought because she couldn't figure out why Sakumo hadn't already talked to Kakashi. "Have you talked to your Dad yet?"

Yoshi immediately noticed the look of anger that passed across Kakashi's face. That's when she realized Sakumo was probably the reason her vase was thrown against a wall. Obviously Kakashi and Sakumo hadn't had a joyous reunion.

"Oh. I'm guessing Sakumo isn't on your list of favorite people. That's okay, I'll talk to him and see how much I can tell you. Would you like that? Then I'll tell you whatever you want."

Kakashi looked over at Yoshi in disbelief. "Why are you being so nice? You don't know me and have no reason to be nice to me."

Yoshi laughed, "Silly boy, I don't know you now, but eventually I will. I'm going to talk to Sakumo and I'll be back later. Try to put on a happy face before I get back."

Kakashi watched as the black haired woman fluttered out the door. Something told him that wasn't the last time he was going to see her. Instead of letting it bother him, he leaned against his pillow and rested the back of his head against the wall. In that position there wasn't a lot of stress on his stitches and the slight dull ache in his back wasn't as noticeable. With nothing left to do the silver haired boy sighed before watching the white clouds float lazily outside his window. He really wanted to know where he was at, but he refused to talk to Sakumo right now. There was just too much anger between them. He had already lost his cool once and didn't need to do it again. He was an ANBU level jounin dammit and he wasn't going to behave like a child because his so-called father was still alive.

A knock distracted Kakashi from his thoughts as Kaito walked in with a young nurse. Kaito nodded to Kakashi before dismissing the nurse and walking over to stand beside his bed.

Kakashi watched the medic-nin with a wary eye before remembering him as the medic from the previous day. The medic looked young, maybe twenty-five, with light brown hair and green, intelligent eyes. The only thing that gave his youthful appearance a touch of age was the bags underneath his eyes and the wrinkles around his mouth and eyes when he smiled.

"Good morning, Kakashi. I'm your medic-nin Sasaki Kaito. I was in charge of your surgeries and chakra healings. Are you feeling well enough to hear your diagnosis?"

Kakashi nodded once and listened halfheartedly as the medic rattled off the seriousness of his injuries. Words like 'head trauma' and 'broken' were ignored completely by the silver haired boy; he was a shinobi and saw his fair share of those kinds of injuries on almost a daily basis. It wasn't until the medic started mentioning the effects of the poison in his body that Kakashi really started listening.

"The poisons are some of the worst developed by Orochimaru. We were able to localize many of the lesser poisons without much trouble or damage, but a few we had to work on. One nearly destroyed your digestive system, which we did heal, but I wouldn't suggest eating anything too spicy or salty for the next few months just to make sure. We did lose you a couple of times on the operating table."

Kakashi tried not to react to those words, but he could feel himself sucking in a quick breath of air. He died. He had been badly injured before, but never to the point of death. His throat was still scratchy and achy, but he pushed past it. "How long was I gone?"

Kaito walked over to the cabinet on the opposite side of the room and reached into it to pull out a paper cup. There was a pitcher sitting beside the sink filled with water for the patient. Normally it was one of the nurses that took care of the patient like this, but after Kakashi's outburst last night, Kaito though it wiser if he took care of the teenager alone. The medic poured water from the pitcher into the cup and walked back over to give it to Kakashi. The boy took the cup in his hand and swirled the liquid around.

Kaito ran a hand through his hair before answering, "Only for a few minutes. Not long enough to cause the brain any damage."

Kakashi's eye flicked down to the cup as he slowly lifted it to his lips. The water was refreshing and nice against his throat.

Kaito cleared his throat to get Kakashi's attention back. "Your throat may be sore for a couple of days. You were in a medicated coma and we had to put a breathing tube down your throat. Just drink plenty of fluids and you should feel better later. I'll even move the pitcher over here."

Kakashi placed the cup on the bedside table and sighed before looking at the medic. "I can get it."

Kaito shook his head. "You're on bed rest, which means I don't want you out of this bed. Didn't you hear what I said about the head trauma and broken bones? Your leg is going to be tender and to make sure you don't re-injure it I need you off of it. Plus, I don't want you to aggravate any of your other injuries."

Kakashi's eye was defiant as he looked at the older man. "You can't stop me from leaving."

"Can too and, besides, where are you going to go? You don't even know where you're at."

That shut Kakashi up. He glared at the opposing wall and growled low in his throat. "When can I leave?"

"As soon as I give the 'okay.'" Kaito reached over and tapped Kakashi's shoulder, causing him to turn and stare into the man's eyes. "Mess with me kid and I'll keep you in here for an entire month." Kaito back away and grinned, "Now, let's move on with your diagnosis. You're malnourished and underweight. Have you been eating?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Whenever I remember to eat."

Kaito blanched at the idea of not remembering to eat. "You're kidding me right? You don't just forget to eat."

"I do sometimes. I got busy with missions."

Kaito rubbed a hand across his eyes in frustration. "I'm putting you on a special diet starting today, high calorie so you can gain some weight." He walked to the edge of the bed and flipped through Kakashi's chart. "I think that's everything. Do you have any questions?" Kakashi shook his head. "Fine, I'll see you after I finish my rounds then."

Kaito walked out, leaving Kakashi to sit on his bed by himself. As soon as the door closed, Kakashi crawled toward the end of his bed and picked up his medical chart. Honestly, he hadn't listened to a word the medic said because he was too focused on the fact that his injuries might be serious this time around. His injuries weren't something that could be taken care of with just a couple of painkillers and a good night's sleep. It actually disturbed Kakashi to learn that his heart stopped beating and that his chakra network was weakened because of the extra chakra in his system. It would take months before he was back into top shape. Frustrated and annoyed, Kakashi tossed his chart onto the foot of his bed and lay back against his pillow.

"What a fucking mess."

* * *

Yoshi found Sakumo pouring over paperwork for a couple of new immigrants. The war was over, but refugees were still finding their way into Kazan; mostly because Sakumo's shinobi were still dropping rumors and whispered directions in back alleys and orphanages. Orphanages especially. Kazan needed children so the village could grow and have a future. Yoshi remembered joking with Sakumo about having a mandatory mating law so they could increase their numbers. Of course, Ryuji turned it into a crude joke revolving their sex lives.

"Sakumo, what did you do to Kakashi?"

Sakumo's eyes snapped up angrily to Yoshi's, making her stop dead in her tracks. She had never before seen his eyes that angry and anguished before. It made her chest hurt as she moved to stand beside him. Slowly, she ran her fingers through his hair. "Saku, what's wrong?"

Sakumo shook his head and refused to meet her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just finishing up some paperwork. Why?"

Yoshi scrutinized Sakumo's face before frowning at the silver haired man. She knew he was lying. Sakumo was a powerful man in many ways, but she could always tell when something was bothering him. His normally sharp eyes would always dull slightly whenever he was dealing with something. It wasn't a very noticeable change, but Yoshi had an eye for the finer details; she always had.

When Ryuji and Sakumo found Yoshi, she was running from Kirigakure Hunter-nin for the murder of her fiancé, a top jounin of Mist. Emotionally drained, mentally anguished and physically exhausted, Yoshi collapsed in the middle of their makeshift camp and didn't wake up for three days. During those three days, Sakumo and Ryuji cared for her and hid her from the Hunter-nins before eventually taking her back to Eiji for a position in his guard detail.

Away from the constant nagging of her father and abusive fiancé, Yoshi blossomed into a practical social butterfly and was happy for once. She did develop the nasty habit of memorizing emotional expressions of the other guards, but even that worked in her favor. She knew when someone was lying and when they needed to be left alone. She was happy now, a little psychotic, but happy.

Her habit of memorizing emotional expressions was how she knew something was bothering Sakumo. His eyes said everything his lips wouldn't. Just like Ryuji developed a slight ear twitch whenever he was lying to her.

Yoshi sighed deeply before locking eyes with the Hatake. "Don't lie to me. I can always tell when you're lying. Does this have to do with Kakashi? He had a similar reaction when I mentioned you."

Sakumo lowered his eyes to the desk. "He hates me Yoshi. Seriously hates me."

"He's just in pain right now."

Sakumo shook his head and went back to his work. "He made it pretty clear that he didn't want me in there."

Yoshi rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. Sakumo continued working and ignoring her, so Yoshi took her foot and kicked his chair back a few inches. Sakumo braced himself against his desk as he turned to glare at the black haired woman. With her hands still on her hips, Yoshi leaned forward until their noses were touching. She gave him a bright grin before poking Sakumo in the chest with her forefinger.

"You're not running away from this. You will go back to that hospital room after you finish here and I don't care if you two stare at each other the entire time, at least you'll be there. Kakashi may be pushing you away right now, but I'm not going to have you give up like a little girl!"

Sakumo met her challenging glare and smirked at her. "Fine, but you get the joy of finishing these reports."

Yoshi shrugged and sat on the edge of his desk. "I'm not scared of these reports. So go. Go on and visit with Kakashi."

"I will, but it won't accomplish anything."

Yoshi just continued to grin as Sakumo walked out the door.

Thirty minutes later, Sakumo was standing outside of Kakashi's door arguing with himself. A part of him did want to enter, but another part knew Kakashi was upset with him. Sakumo winced as he recalled the clear anger in not only his son's words, but also his eyes.

Shaking away the horrible image of his son's burning eyes, Sakumo placed one hand on the door and pushed it open. The sight he was met with wasn't something he expected. Kakashi was out of his bed and clutching tightly to the back of the chair, which was almost halfway across the room. Sweat was glistening on his forehead and his teeth were gritted together in obvious pain. Kakashi wasn't paying Sakumo any attention, too focused on his task to even notice his surroundings.

"Kakashi? What are you doing?"

Kakashi immediately tensed and turned to look at Sakumo with furious eyes. "Nothing that concerns you."

He squared his jaw and lifted his injured leg up slightly before hoping forward a little bit. Then, after he had his balance, he would slide the chair forward a few inches. Sakumo was amazed and amused as he watched his son. Kakashi was using the chair as a makeshift crutch to get wherever he was going. Sakumo chuckled to himself and walked over to steady Kakashi. Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn't too willing to let his Dad touch him in any way. Sakumo gently placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and his ribs were met with an elbow. Kakashi elbowed him hard enough to knock the breath out of Sakumo and cause him to jump back.

"Kakashi! I raised you better than that!"

Snarling, Kakashi let go of the chair and turned to face Sakumo. "Raised me? You didn't fucking raise me. I raised myself."

In his anger, Kakashi placed his foot on the ground and hissed as the pain raced up his spine. The sharpness of it made his knees buckle and he soon found himself falling to the ground.

Sakumo was by his side instantly, supporting his weight with no effort at all and trying his hardest to not incur his son's wrath. He could feel the painfully tensed body in his arms and knew if his son wasn't in so much pain then he would have pushed Sakumo away again. The silver haired man helped Kakashi to his feet and continued to balance him as the young boy took several calming breaths.

"Let's get you back in bed."

"No!" Sakumo blinked as he looked down at his only son. A heavy blush was staining across his cheeks and his eyes were trained to the floor. "I was trying to go to the bathroom. I have to go."

"Oh!" Sakumo chewed on the inside of his cheek before raising an eyebrow at the other Hatake. "Why didn't you use the bedpan?"

"I am not using a bedpan. I'm going to hop into that bathroom and use it. So move and let me get over there."

Sakumo sighed and resisted the urge to rub his eyes in frustration. "I'll help you."

"Hell no. Let me do it."

"Stop being stubborn."

"Stop trying to be my father."

Sakumo tilted his head back and sighed deeply. If Kakashi wanted to be difficult, then he wasn't going to fight him. He let go and watched as Kakashi quickly shifted his weight to maintain his balance. As Kakashi resumed his painfully slow trek across the room, Sakumo sat down on the edge of the bed and watched. At least his son's stubborn personality hadn't changed.

Kakashi, on the other hand, wasn't doing so well. His bladder was screaming at him, but the various pains from his injuries were screaming louder. He didn't care. He would rather cause his body more pain than ask Sakumo for help. He refused to be weak in front of the man that left him. He didn't need Sakumo.

After a few more slow and agonizing minutes of hobbling over to the bathroom door, Kakashi made it. With one hand still clutched tightly to the back of the chair, he reached out and turned the knob to open the door. Victory was in his sights, until he noticed nothing but empty white space between him and the toilet. A part of Kakashi's stubborn attitude died right there because he knew he couldn't hold his bladder anymore. He just didn't have the time to hop cautiously around the bathroom while clutching to the wall. His options were narrowed down to using the trashcan on the inside of the door or asking his dad for help. Kakashi mentally chose the first option, but Sakumo forced him to do the second.

Sakumo watched his son finally make it to the bathroom only to stop. He could see his son looking at the space between his position and the toilet. Sakumo knew Kakashi couldn't get the chair through the door, not without both of his feet on the ground. Quickly, Sakumo walked across and wrapped an arm around Kakashi's waist. Surprisingly enough, Kakashi didn't fight him, but instead shifted his weight so he could have a little bit of control over his body.

Kakashi wished he could get himself out of this embarrassing situation. As happy as he was that he was going to get to relieve his bladder, anger surged through his veins at the fact Sakumo was being so nonchalant about everything. He hadn't even apologized for leaving him all those years ago. Once Kakashi was close enough to brace his hand against the wall behind the toilet, he shook Sakumo off.

"I've got it from here."

Sakumo sighed and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He went and sat back down on the edge of the bed because he knew Kakashi wouldn't call for his help. No, his stubborn son would most likely hobble his way around that bathroom, clutching the wall until he made it to the door. Then he would hobble back to the bed and that's exactly what Kakashi did. Twenty minutes later, he hobbled all the way back to the bed, grimacing in pain the entire time, before stubbornly climbing into it.

"You're too stubborn for your own good."

Kakashi didn't answer Sakumo and simply stared straight ahead at the wall in front of him. Sakumo sighed deeply before crossing his arms and propping his feet up on the edge of the bedside table, he had moved into the chair after Kakashi made it to the bed.

"Fine, two can play that game. I won't talk, but I'm not leaving."

Kakashi didn't even acknowledge him and simply continued staring straight ahead. That's how they sat until Ryuji came looking for Sakumo.

The green haired man walked into the room with a smirk on his face. "Well, don't you two look cozy?"

Sakumo turned and greeted Ryuji. "Don't you have patrol duty today?"

Ryuji shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not, depends on if the Kaijinkage decides to let me have the day off or not."

Sakumo shrugged before teasingly shaking his head. "Nope, sorry, you're needed there."

"Ahh well, I'm busy." Ryuji walked over and gently shoved Kakashi's uninjured shoulder. "Kid, how are ya today?"

Kakashi glared at the green haired man. "Leave me alone."

"Nah, you're too fun to mess with."

"Ryuji leave him alone. He obviously wants to act like a two-year-old."

Kakashi turned and snapped at his father. "I'm not acting like a two-year-old. He's being an annoying bastard."

Sakumo sighed. "Please, can you stop cussing?"

"No."

Ryuji looked between the two and couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of anger over the situation. This was his friend and kage the boy was disrespecting. "Hey Kakashi, do you really need to disrespect your old man?"

Kakashi turned an emotionless eye on Ryuji. "I'm not disrespecting him. All I'm doing is answering his question."

"He deserves more respect than that."

"Why?"

Ryuji snorted. "Because he's the kage of this village, that's why."

Sakumo resisted the urge to slam his head against the nearest wall as Kakashi's eye suddenly widened before looking over at him. The silver haired man saw all the vulnerable emotions welling up in his son's eye before pure anger overshadowed them all.

"Once a traitor, always a traitor."

Sakumo fled the room, leaving behind a deadly silent Kakashi and a fuming Ryuji.

* * *

*whistles innocently* Wasn't that just evil? Aww. Poor stubborn Kakashi. Why must you be a little pain in the neck?

So all questions and comments are being directed to the review button.

Until Next Time,

'Rayne


	9. Chapter 9

Welcome back to Renewing Embers!

Sorry it's been such a long wait, but this chapter had to be perfect before I posted it. There's a lot of conflicting emotions going on and it doesn't help that I want to just throw them into a locked room and be done with it. I can't do that though because the story would be boring and not true to the original vision. So, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter because I know I enjoyed writing it.

Happy Readings!

* * *

"What the fuck is your problem kid?"

A very bored eye gave Ryuji a once over before dismissing him altogether. "Last time I checked, I didn't have to answer to you. You're not my father. As far as I'm concerned, I have no father."

Ryuji snarled dangerously as he walked over and pulled Kakashi from the bed. The silver haired boy barely had time to adjust his weight to his uninjured leg before Ryuji dragged him across the room and pushed him against the wall, pinning his shoulders tightly to the white plaster.

"Look, you little brat. Your father has been the greatest friend and kage I've ever had. I'm not going to let some spoiled little boy disrespect a great man like Hatake Sakumo."

Pure rage was the only emotion Kakashi could find in his heart as Ryuji spoke about Sakumo's greatness. His normally stoic aura flaring with raw emotion as he snapped back at Ryuji.

"Great man? Great men don't abandon their seven-year-old sons! You don't know me, or my life, so you have no fucking right to think you can waltz in here and give me a lesson in respect! I owe him nothing. He hasn't thought about me in years, so why the fuck should I go out of my way to be nice for him?"

Ryuji's blood boiled in his veins as he reared his fist back to knock the ugly scowl off of the boy's face, but he stopped short. Kakashi wasn't flinching, even though the other man's fist was just a hair's breadth away from his face. In fact, Kakashi's eyes were trained onto the white and red part of Ryuji's uniform. In that moment, Ryuji saw everything the boy refused to say. For just a few seconds, Kakashi's shields were dropped and the green haired man could easily see the confusion, pain, anger, and small hope that swirled around Kakashi's heart. Ryuji uncurled his fist before reaching up and running a hand through Kakashi's hair. All he could see before him was a scared little boy, one that couldn't understand why the world seemed to hate him. The older man felt all of his anger dissipate only to be replaced with understanding.

Ryuji felt like a fool. Kakashi wasn't the root of the problem and he knew it.

The boy flinched and rapidly blinked back the sudden wetness that usually accompanied his memories of his younger years. As much as he wanted to hate Sakumo at that moment, his mind was all too ready to bring up small snippets of his life before his mother died. Back when he had a father, a damn good one. Kakashi wanted to forget everything that he once knew because remembering was making it all the harder to hate the man that sired him.

Ryuji's hand stopped the gentle petting only after Kakashi finally gripped his wrist and pulled his hand away from his hair.

"Just go away."

Ryuji shook his head as he brought his hand back up and treaded it through the thick silver strands. "Don't think I can do that, kid. You can't bottle your emotions up like this. Eventually your little head is going to explode and then I'm going to be the one cleaning up brain matter."

Kakashi tried not to grin at the man, but his facial muscles weren't listening to him. He could feel his lips slowly upturning before he quickly frowned.

Unfortunately, Ryuji caught the grin. "See? I knew you weren't a stick in the mud."

Kakashi simply returned to his scowling and tried to ignore the man in front of him. All Kakashi knew was that he needed to get out of this hospital room.

"Fine, be that way. Let's get you back in bed before I get in trouble with the medic."

* * *

After Ryuji left Kakashi's hospital room, he quickly went to track down Sakumo. He needed to talk to the other man about his son. If Sakumo could just get past Kakashi's hurt and rage then they had a chance to reconcile. Something they both needed whether they wanted to admit it or not.

He didn't have to search long. Sakumo was in his office mechanically filling out paperwork with Yoshi looking on worriedly. Ryuji doubted the man was even reading the papers and one glance from Yoshi confirmed his suspicion. The black haired woman stood silently behind Sakumo's chair with her hands lightly resting against the back of Sakumo's chair. She looked positively worried sick.

"Sakumo?"

"Just go away, Ryuji. I want to wallow in my guilt."

Yoshi sighed tiredly as she massaged her temples with her fingers. "Saku, that's not healthy."

Ryuji shut the door to Sakumo's office before walking over and sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Wallowing never solved anything. You've got to get back in there, Sakumo."

"He hates me, Ryuji. What part of that don't you and Yoshi understand?"

Yoshi glared daggers at the back of Sakumo's head. The man could feel her tensing behind him and he couldn't help but feel like he needed to get as far away from her as possible.

"Sakumo, I'm not going to lie to you, you're not his favorite person right now, but that doesn't mean he truly hates you. He's just confused and stubborn."

Sakumo looked up from his papers with a strange glint in his eyes, one that the green haired man instantly feared. "Perhaps I should have killed myself."

"Dammit, Sakumo! He doesn't hate you! Has he ever said the words 'I hate you?' No! Not that I know of, at least."

"He doesn't have to say it. I can see it in his eyes."

Ryuji sighed as he buried his face into his hands. Suddenly, a brilliant thought entered his mind. "Sakumo, have you apologized to Kakashi yet?"

Sakumo blinked as he dropped the papers in his hands. "He won't even look at me. So how am I supposed to apologize?"

Ryuji laughed maniacally as he stood up and pulled at Sakumo's arm. Yoshi helpfully pushed Sakumo out of his chair so the other man could move him.

"You open your mouth and apologize! Damn, I thought of a good plan before Yoshi, it's a miracle."

Yoshi snarled as she sat down in Sakumo's seat and continued with the paperwork. "Smart ass."

Sakumo allowed Ryuji to pull him a little ways before he broke the jounin's hold on his arm. "Ryuji, I can't do this anymore today. I'm exhausted and seeing Kakashi again will only kill the little bit of hope I have left."

"Please, Sakumo, just go back for just a few minutes."

Sakumo looked like he was going to protest before giving up and following the green haired man to the hospital. With a heavy heart, Sakumo stood outside the door to Kakashi's hospital room watching the nurses walk up and down the hall. Ryuji was right beside him and literally pushed the other man through the door.

One look around the room and Sakumo noticed one very important fact.

Kakashi wasn't in his bed.

Sakumo's heart instantly started palpitating at a furious rate. His mind raced through scenario after scenario as he pictured his boy kidnapped, beaten, and dead at the hands of one of his enemies. For one frantic minute all Sakumo wanted to do was raze the village to find his son.

Sakumo took a deep, cleansing breath before regaining his calm and focusing his mind on finding Kakashi. He obviously wasn't in his bed, nor was he in one of the chairs in the room. The worrying father even went as far as to check the bathroom, only to come up empty.

"Ryuji! Kakashi's gone!"

Ryuji entered the room as soon as Sakumo called. "What do you mean he's gone?"

Sakumo looked up at Ryuji and waved his arm across the room. "He's not here."

"He couldn't have left. He could barely walk! He would have never made it past the nurses."

Sakumo looked around the room and groaned as his eyes landed on the opened window. Kakashi's room was on the first floor. The drop to the ground wasn't that far and if his son was determined, he could easily get to the ground.

"He escaped out the window. He's always hated the hospital, but I didn't think he'd risk his health to leave."

"Do you want me to gather some of the guards? We'll find him."

Sakumo looked down at the windowsill and shook his head. "I'll find him." With that said, Sakumo brought his hands together and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

* * *

Kakashi's entire body throbbed with pain, but he didn't stop walking. Every step felt like his leg was being stuck with thousands of needles, but his ANBU training taught him to push the pain into the back of his mind and ignore it. Leaving the hospital against doctor's orders wasn't the best idea he ever had. It probably wouldn't endear him to his medic Kaito, but Kakashi just couldn't make himself care at that point.

The silver haired boy managed to ignore his pain for a while before he stepped on a sharp rock in the middle of the road. He only barely managed to keep himself upright as the pain shot through his mind. At that, Kakashi found the closest bench he could and plopped down on it.

Another thing that probably wasn't the best idea was his state of dress. He hadn't found his shoes or any of his clothes in his hospital room, so he walked out of the hospital without them. Well, he traded his gown for a pair of dark blue scrubs that he found in the drawer underneath the sink, but other than that, he was undressed. He definitely wasn't wearing a mask and that made him feel all the more vulnerable.

Kakashi absolutely hated feeling vulnerable.

With a soft sigh Kakashi took a deep breath and looked around him. He didn't know where he was, but it felt peaceful. He had somehow found a small park about a block away from the hospital. There weren't a lot of trees, but there were a few green shrubs and rock formations. It was definitely different from Konoha.

The silver haired boy wrapped his arms around his middle as he lay down across the bench to watch the sky above. The blue sky was beautiful, but there was something off about it. It looked like there was a film over it or something. Kakashi rubbed his scarred eye as he contemplated using the Sharingan to see what was going on with the sky, but he knew he couldn't waste the chakra. He didn't want to end up passing out from chakra exhaustion.

"So, this is where you've been."

Kakashi stiffened as he recognized the voice coming from behind him. "It was such a nice day until you arrived. So go back to your office, kage-sama. I'm busy."

Sakumo didn't say anything as he walked over to lean against the back of the stone bench. He looked down at his son and tried his hardest to hold back the grin that threatened to split his face in two. Kakashi just looked so much like his two-year-old self with that annoyed scowl on his face and his bangs falling into his eyes.

"Can we talk, Ka-chan?"

Kakashi growled as he snapped up and gripped the edge of the bench harshly. "I told you once before, you lost the fucking right to call me that!"

Sakumo held up his hands in defense as tried to hide the pain in his eyes. "Okay. I'll stop with the nickname, if you promise me you'll give me thirty minutes without cussing or insulting me."

Kakashi looked at his father intensely as he weighed the pros and cons of agreeing to the man's condition. "Agreed. I just won't talk, but you've got exactly thirty minutes."

"Will you listen?"

Kakashi didn't answer, only nodded his head once. He turned to watch the floating clouds as soon as Sakumo opened his mouth. He would listen to the man, but that didn't mean he had to look at him.

"I regret a lot of things in my life. I regret your mother's death. I regret falling into a trap. I regret those missions. But all of that doesn't compare to the biggest regret of my life."

Kakashi waited patiently as his father rambled on about things he had no clue about. What trap and what missions? The silver haired boy resisted the urge to roll his lone eye at the man and would have if he hadn't promised he wouldn't insult the man. He wasn't going to be a liar like his so-called father.

"Leaving you was the biggest regret of my life."

Ice-cold pain shot through Kakashi's heart at the words Sakumo said, but he didn't let them show. He wanted to believe those words, but meaningless words didn't change what Sakumo did. Sweet little confessions weren't going to endear the hurting boy to his father.

"I've thought about nothing else for nearly seven years. I go to bed at night and have nightmares about the day I left you. I know your mother is disappointed in me because I didn't take very good care of you and that kills me. Not having you by my side kills me. I've missed so much and all I want is to have my Scarecrow back."

Kakashi closed his eye at the pain in his father's voice. He wanted to believe him, but he wasn't going to allow himself to. He wasn't going to go back to his father like some faithful dog. He had pride dammit! He was a jounin and considered an adult. He'd smoked, drank, felt up that girl, and went on S-ranked missions just because he could. He couldn't and wouldn't allow anyone to take his pride away.

"You regret leaving me? Then why did you? Do you have any idea what I went through because of you? How much pain I've endured because of you?"

Sakumo lowered his eyes and shook his head.

"No, I didn't think you did. Well, let me enlighten you, Sakumo. Once you died I was left to pick up the pieces. Do you know they tried to send me to an orphanage? If it wouldn't have been for Sensei, the man I consider my true father, then I would have been in some dirt poor shack with twenty other children all sharing the same blanket."

Sakumo felt a little lower than dirt as Kakashi tore into him. He hadn't realized how horrible Kakashi had it after he left. The older silver haired man figured the animosity would have died down after his 'death.' Apparently that wasn't so.

"No one would take missions with me because I looked exactly like you. It was only until I started wearing a mask to cover up my disgrace. I was their new punching bag. I got picked to do the worst duties and endured the worst taunts. I think what hurts the most is that I needed you and you weren't there. You were sitting here in the lap of luxury. So you regret leaving me? You're damn right you better regret it because your cowardice nearly cost me my life on numerous occasions."

Sakumo's eyes prickled with emotion as he heard Kakashi's voice get smaller and smaller. He slowly walked around the bench and squatted down beside Kakashi's head. It was then that Sakumo noticed the slight moisture around Kakashi's scarred eye, not exactly tears, but close enough to break Sakumo's heart into little pieces. On a whim, the silver haired man reached out and wiped away the forming drop of salty liquid.

Kakashi stiffened at Sakumo's touch and tried to squirm away from the large hand rubbing a comforting circle onto the side of his cheek, right underneath his ear. Sakumo leaned forward and rested his forehead against the side of Kakashi's head. Silver tangled with silver as Sakumo closed his eyes and petted Kakashi's cheek a final time, something that used to comfort the boy as a baby.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, Kakashi. I just want you to forgive me. I can't eat, sleep or even think because all I'm thinking about is your hatred of me. I don't want you to hate me anymore. I want my son back. I want you back. We could start over anew and try again. We've got a new slate and we'll make our family work. Please, Kakashi, just forgive me. I'm so sorry for abandoning you."

With his good hand, Kakashi pushed against Sakumo's shoulder, causing the man to tumble backwards. The teenage boy turned a cold eye to Sakumo and growled low in his throat. "Saying sorry isn't going to take away these past seven years. I'll give you props because you apologized, but I'm not letting you back in that easily. I've been burned too many times by you and I won't be abandoned again."

Sakumo nodded as he stood up and held out a hand to Kakashi. "I can live with that. I'll just have to show you how truly sorry I am. Now, can you stand to be in my presence long enough to get you back to the hospital?"

The silver haired boy nodded as he took the outstretched hand. Besides, instantly being assaulted with memories of that hand carefully teaching smaller, smoother hands how to correctly form hand seals, Kakashi felt traitorous emotion tug at his heart. He clamped it down in the back of his mind and schooled his face into neutrality. He let Sakumo pull him from the bench and help him hobble back to the hospital.

An amusing chuckle sounded beside his ear as they neared the hospital and saw a frustrated medic tapping his foot at the front entrance. "Kaito looks like he'd rather kill you than heal you. He's really going to be ticked about your feet. What compelled you to leave the hospital without shoes?"

Kakashi felt his lips upturn at the playful banter, but he didn't feel like letting Sakumo get too comfortable with his tolerance of him. "Just because I'm tolerating your presence doesn't give you the right to speak to me."

He heard his father's mumbled apology and felt horrible for a few minutes before nudging him with his elbow.

"Kaito will just have to learn that he's going to have to get creative if he wants me to stay in the hospital. What? I was desperate to get out of there. I'm a ninja. I can handle a few cuts and bruises."

When the duo arrived at the entrance of the hospital, Kaito growled loudly before pointing at Kakashi and grinding his teeth in anger. "I'm tying you to the bed for the next month! Get your skinny ass back in your bed!"

Even though Kakashi was sure his medic was going to kill him while they were alone, he couldn't help but grin at the man. That medic was going to become his personal source of entertainment for the next month.

"Come on Kakashi, let's get you to bed."

Kakashi allowed Sakumo to drag him to bed with swirling thoughts and emotions. The silver haired boy knew he didn't fully hate Sakumo, but he hadn't forgiven him and possibly never would. Did he think his father deserved the anger and abuse he'd been dishing out to the man? Yes, a part of Kakashi was taking this as the man's punishment for leaving him. Did he think his father deserved a second chance? Yes, Kakashi knew all about second chances thanks to Obito. He wouldn't deny his father his, but he wasn't going to give it up easily either. Sakumo would work to get back into Kakashi's good graces and the boy wasn't going to make it easy for him. Hell, he'd go out of his way to make it harder.

* * *

*claps happily* Progress! I hope this progress isn't too out of place. I just felt like having those two stare at each other angrily was getting a little boring, it's time to move the plot further. Naruto's been strangely absent in Kakashi's mind, but I don't blame him, he's had a lot happen to him in the past few days.

Anyway, all questions are directed to the review box!

Until next time,

'Rayne


	10. Chapter 10

I seriously didn't realize how long it's been since I updated this story last. Forgive me, it's been a crazy semester, which is almost over. Oh how I look forward to the joys of summer, days of writing and just slacking off!

Anyway, I hope this story still has some fans, considering it's been so long. ^_^ This chapter really speeds the plot up and gets into the nitty gritty of what's going to happen. Overall, I'm happy with how this chapter turned out and I can only hope you guys are too. So, without further ado, welcome to the long chapter of RE. Please feel free to comment on anything you find in this chapter, I love getting feedback. It does the bunnies' heart's good to hear what you think.

Happy Readings

**Disclaimer: *pout* Once upon a time, Rayne was given Kakashi as a present...sadly..she woke up. **

* * *

Kaito made good on his promise. Though he didn't tie Kakashi to the bed, he did begin him on a heavy rehabilitation program that left the young teenager unusually exhausted by the end of the day. It was an unconventional way of handling Kakashi's flight tendencies, but it worked seemingly well. Kakashi stayed, rather begrudgingly, in his hospital bed with nothing to do. Well, he could have talked to his father or to one of the guards his father had in his room, but the silver haired Konoha ninja refused.

On a personal level, talking to the other ninjas or to his father would be similar to admitting that he liked them or could at least stand them, something that Kakashi refused to even begin to think about. In his mind, they still weren't worth his time or attention. Sakumo apologized, yes, but he hadn't done anything to earn Kakashi's trust back. Ryuji, Sakumo's favored guard for him, was just an annoying pain-in-the-ass to Kakashi so he really didn't go out of his way to converse with him. The silver haired teenager couldn't stand the man and the man seemed to love to press his buttons.

On the professional level, Kakashi was knee deep in a village that was not allied with Konoha, sure they weren't enemies, but there was also no guarantee that they wouldn't interrogate him for information about Konoha. The petty part of Kakashi knew his father had more than enough reason to want to attack Konoha. Sakumo could attack Konoha for his own selfish reasons, a last laugh at the village that scorned him so. Sakumo could also attack Konoha for gain. Kakashi was very much aware of the fact that Sakumo was kage of a village, a village that he obviously loved and wanted to flourish. What was stopping his father from gaining information in order to take down a huge world power?

Nothing and that bothered Kakashi.

It made him suspicious and a tad bit paranoid. Of course, just as he was about to call them out on it, Sakumo or Kaito would do something that completely destroyed his theories, leaving him even more confused and paranoid. It bothered Kakashi because he didn't know why they were taking such good care of him. He had contemplated the fact that maybe his father's guilt was keeping the interrogations at bay, but even that didn't make sense either. Surely there was a council member somewhere in this little village that wanted him thrown into the pits of their torture and interrogation department.

"Kid, you're thinking awfully hard over there." Kakashi turned to glare at the green haired man reclining in the chair across the room with a book in his hand. "Glaring at me isn't going to make me go away either."

"You're such a pain-in-the-ass."

Ryuji looked over the top of his book and teasingly frowned at the boy. "Did you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Kakashi simply flipped Ryuji off.

The door to his room opened just as Ryuji bit back a howl of laughter to reveal the smiling visage of Kaito clutching a chart. The medic quickly turned to Ryuji and admonished the jounin. "Ryuji, stop teasing Kakashi."

Ryuji mockingly scoffed at the medic as he dramatically pointed back at the boy on the bed. "I would never tease him!"

Kaito didn't seem convinced as he shooed the green haired man out of the room. "Go on, you're not needed right now."

Once the room was clear of everybody except Kaito and Kakashi, the medic walked over and began routinely checking over the various injuries on his patient's body.

"When am I going to be able to get out of here?"

Kaito shrugged as his green chakra brushed over Kakashi's healing leg. The leg was healing at an amazing rate and it no longer caused the boy extreme pain whenever he put pressure on it.

"Well, that's partially up to you. I'm not letting you leave 'til you're better, which means you've got to start giving it your all in rehab. It all depends on how cooperative you are and how much rest and nourishment your body receives."

Kakashi's bangs hid his eyes as he looked down at his leg. "I have been doing my best."

"Trying to leave the hospital isn't 'doing your best'," Kaito grabbed Kakashi's chin to force the boy to look up at him, "nor is not eating."

Kakashi turned his head quickly, forcing Kaito to release his grip on the boy's chin. "I haven't left the hospital in weeks. I haven't been able to because of all the rehab you and your assistants are torturing me with."

Kaito stood tall as he watched Kakashi with a calculating eye, wondering if the boy was going to address the 'not eating' part of what he said. "What about eating? I got an interesting report yesterday. You lost five more pounds."

"I have been lying in a bed, muscle mass…"

"Don't give me that bullshit! You've lost ten pounds altogether since the first time you were wheeled into my operating room. This isn't normal weight loss. You're not eating."

"I'm a little underweight, so what?"

Kaito snarled at the boy lying in the bed as he snatched up his chart and pushed it into Kakashi's face. "A little underweight? No, you're almost twenty pounds underweight. That's a dangerous place to be in Kakashi."

Kakashi pushed the chart away before glancing up at Kaito. "Okay, I'll eat if it makes you feel better."

"This isn't about making me feel better! It's about keeping you from harming yourself. Do you realize that you're increasing your chances at developing immune system deficiencies and anemia? Dammit Kakashi, I can't heal stuff like that with chakra. You develop anemia and you're on iron pills for the rest of your life."

Kaito knew he was exaggerating, but maybe Kakashi needed a healthy dose of fear.

"I told you I would eat, so I'll eat. Stop talking down to me like I'm a child."

Kaito was fully prepared to tear into Kakashi again, but he stopped and composed himself. Taking a few deep breaths, the medic sat the chart on the bed and sighed deeply. "Okay, I'm sorry, but you're such a frustrating patient."

The silver haired boy grinned at the man in that moment, "That's what all the Konoha medics said too, so don't feel bad."

Kaito rolled his eyes before he got suddenly serious again. "Kakashi, promise me you don't have some eating disorder."

"I don't have an eating disorder, I just forget to eat."

"Your food is brought to you, how can you forget to eat something that's wheeled to your bed?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow up at the man before glancing sideways to the spot where the trays were usually placed. "Honestly, have you ever eaten the food here? It's horrible. How do you expect me to eat something hard enough to be used as a weapon?"

Kaito's lips twitched into a smile before he clapped his hands together. "Fine, I'll make you a deal. I'll cook anything you want as long as you eat everything I bring you."

Kakashi surveyed the man in front of him before slowly nodding. "Agreed."

"Well, we finally understand each other. Your injuries are healing at an astonishing pace and I suspect you'll be out of here as soon as you get your weight up."

Kakashi nodded and watched as the medic straightened the blanket on his bed before walking towards the door. The silver haired teenager stopped him before he left out of the room. The whereabouts of his personal items had been nagging him for a while now and he needed to see if the medic knew where they were. "Kaito, what happened to my personal items?"

The medic frowned slightly as he turned to look at Kakashi. "I'm not sure, but I'll find out for you. I'll be back later with whatever I find out and with some food. Any preferences tonight?"

"Thank you, Kaito, and no, surprise me."

"Will do, Kakashi, will do."

* * *

Sakumo sat at his desk with Eiji's letter ringing through his mind. He had written to the elder man days ago to inform him of Kakashi's awakening and quickly received a reply that he didn't exactly like. Eiji was rather quick in pointing out that having Kakashi inside the village was a danger to all of Kazan. They didn't know if the boy was loyal to Konoha or not. They didn't know anything about Kakashi's past or his current connections to Konoha. They could literally be harboring and rehabilitating the one person that held the keys to their destruction.

It hurt to think about Kakashi in that way, but Sakumo knew Eiji spoke the truth. If Kakashi was still loyal to Konoha, then they were going to have a few difficulties with letting Kakashi go. He knew about their village and would have to tell Konoha.

Sakumo buried his face into his hands as he thought over his predicament. They needed to find out where Kakashi stood. The only problem was with the boy not talking to Sakumo. That left only one option, T&I. Kakashi had to be interrogated, but that opened up a whole new can of worms. Regardless of Kakashi's loyalty, he wasn't going to let go of that information that easily. He wasn't a sellout and would take all of Konoha's secrets to the grave with him.

It left Sakumo in a difficult position. Should he show his loyalty to his son by ignoring the fact he was a Konoha shinobi or show his loyalty to his village by having his son interrogated.

With a heavy heart, Sakumo knew what he had to do. He needed to be the Kaijinkage and make unbiased decisions for the good of his village. He would have Kakashi interrogated, but he himself would do the interrogation.

A knock sounded on his office door, breaking him from his depressing thoughts.

"Come in."

A smile stretched across Sakumo's face as Arata walked into the room, looking a little tired, but in one piece.

"Kaijinkage-sama."

"Welcome home, Arata. How did the mission go?"

Arata pushed a lock of his shaggy brown hair behind his ear as he blushed slightly. "The mission was relatively successful, but I did almost get caught coming out of Taki. I got turned around because I couldn't remember if I needed to turn right or left to leave the village gates."

Sakumo thumbed through a few papers on his desk, looking for Arata's promotion sheet. "The mission wasn't blown though?"

"No sir. I wasn't in uniform and people rarely suspect a blind boy. "

"The scroll was delivered?"

"Yes sir, without tripping any alarms."

Sakumo grinned as he signed the paper in front of him and stood up to walk around his desk. He placed a hand on Arata's shoulder as he shoved his newest orders into the boy's hand.

"These are your papers for tokubetsu jounin. After you've rested, we'll have the official paperwork done."

Arata swallowed back the lump of emotion in his voice as he gave Sakumo a bright smile. "Thank you, Kaijinkage-sama."

Sakumo waved off the boy's gratitude with his hand. "No, thank you. Now we've got the elements of surprise and fear. You did well."

Arata nodded again before quickly turning to head out of Sakumo's office. A few minutes later Sakumo couldn't keep the grin off his face after he heard the brunet's holler of joy coming from the hallway outside his office.

A few seconds later, another knock sounded on Sakumo's door.

"Come in."

Kaito walked through the door a few moments later, clutching two bags in his hands. "Kaijinkage-sama, I've brought something for you that I think you'll like."

He placed the bags on the table in front of Sakumo and stepped back with a grin on his face. Sakumo looked through one of the bags to see bloodied and torn clothing; he scrunched his nose up at the smell of old blood before looking through the other bag. It held what looked to be a large bowl of soup and a bento box.

"What is this, Kaito?"

"They're Kakashi's things and his supper for tonight. I told him that I would find his personal items and bring him something other than hospital food. I think it'll help your cause if you were the one to bring it to him."

Sakumo smiled softly as he gathered the items into his arms. "Thanks, Kaito. This means a lot to me."

Kaito shrugged as his eyes twinkled playfully. "With all due respect, Sakumo-sama, you need all the help you can get with that one. He's more than a handful."

Sakumo could only agree with the medic as he gathered up the things and headed towards the hospital.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Sakumo held up his bag-laded arms as he stepped into the room. "I'm just dropping some things off for Kaito. He asked if I'd give these to you."

Kakashi sat up a little straighter as Sakumo placed the bags beside him on the bed before awkwardly sitting in the chair next to Kakashi's bed. The silver haired boy threw Sakumo a look before hastily picking up the bag with his belongings in it. The clothes were ruined, but the armor was still salvageable. He wasn't looking for that, though, he was looking for a very important ring. He found it at the bottom of the bag wrapped inside his destroyed mask. The medics must have cut the mask instead of pulling it over his head. Ignoring the ruined mask, Kakashi picked up the chain that held his mother's ring and gave it a little smile as he slipped it around his neck. He didn't notice his father moving closer to the bed 'til the man's hand reached out and attempted to touch the ring. Kakashi grabbed his wrist in a tight grip before it could get anywhere near his body.

Sakumo looked away as he swallowed down the thick emotion building in his chest at seeing his wife's ring for the first time in years. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to see it. It's the only thing in Kazan that connects me to your mother, besides you, of course."

Kakashi let go of his father's hand and closed his eye. As angry as he was at Sakumo, he couldn't deny the fact that his father missed his mother. He'd never forget the depression his father sunk into after his mother's death. He had been so young then and though he'd never admit it, he'd been so scared of losing his father too. He opened his eye and gestured towards the ring. It wasn't fair to deny him seeing the ring. "You can see it."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Sakumo leaned closer and held the ring in his hands. It felt the same as it had all those years ago whenever he'd picked it out for Ai. "I can't believe you kept it all these years."

Kakashi made a funny noise in the back of his throat, but Sakumo chose to ignore it. What Kakashi wasn't going to tell Sakumo was that he'd kept the ring as close as he could because it was the last gift Sakumo had given him. He was never going to mention to the man that he'd spent a lot of nights wearing the ring around his neck as a way to fend off nightmares. Just like he'd never tell Sakumo how wearing the ring made him feel close to his lost family.

"Of course, I kept it. It was my mother's ring. It was the only piece of her I had left."

The silver haired man winced at the subtle hint of accusation thrown his way. It was because of his actions that Ai's stuff burned with the rest of the house. He was the reason his son only had her ring. Suddenly, Sakumo had the overwhelming desire to scoop Kakashi into his arms and hold him like he used to when he was younger.

"Kakashi," the silver haired boy moved away from Sakumo and nodded for the man to continue, "can I hug you?"

It was an innocent request, but Kakashi shot it down anyway. "No. I would prefer if you didn't."

Kakashi tried to ignore the flash of pain that flew across his father's face, but he could already feel the beginnings of guilt gnawing away at his chest. He managed to clamp his guilt down before it got too bothersome and he did something silly like actually letting his father hug him.

Sakumo nodded in understanding as he moved away from Kakashi to sit back in his chair beside the bed. He watched as Kakashi tossed one bag towards the end of his bed before tearing into the one that held the food. Sakumo waited patiently as Kakashi finished off the bento and chugged down the soup. It looked like the boy hadn't eaten in days. Only once he was finished did Sakumo attempt small talk.

"Was it good?"

Kakashi nodded once as he placed the empty containers back into the bag before tossing it to the end of the bed with the other bag. "Tons better than the shit they serve here."

Sakumo winced again and wanted to admonish his son, but he didn't. He knew he needed to keep Kakashi placated enough to answer his questions. "Kakashi, as much as I hate to do this, I need to ask you some questions."

The boy on the bed tensed ever so slightly. "An interrogation? I knew it wouldn't be long before someone came by for one. I didn't think it would be you, though."

"No, not an interrogation, just some questions. Your presence here puts Kazan in a difficult position, as does your knowledge of the village. I'm just trying to see where you stand and what precautions I'm going to have to take from here on out."

Kakashi was silent and remained silent for the longest time. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My rank is Jounin. My serial number is 7812983."

Sakumo laughed it off at first. He remembered all too well training his son to recite those words in the event of capture by the enemy. "Kakashi, stop, this isn't one of those interrogations."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My rank is Jounin. My serial number is 7812983."

Suddenly, it wasn't so funny anymore. Sakumo wasn't planning on treating this like a real interrogation because it wasn't an interrogation. He just needed to know the reason why Kakashi was in Oto territory. "Kakashi, please, stop. This isn't an interrogation."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My rank is Jounin. My serial number is 7812983."

Sakumo's calm snapped in two. "Dammit, Kakashi! Shut up!"

It shut Kakashi up, but it also drove the boy back into his emotionless shell. He stared blankly at the wall, looking right past Sakumo to count the thin cracks running across the plaster.

Sakumo looked down at his hands in frustration. Why did his son have to be so difficult? "Kakashi, this isn't an interrogation, but I need to know some things if I'm going to let you stay in the village."

Kakashi remained silent so Sakumo took another approach. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. You ask me any question you want and I'll answer it, but for every question I answer, you've got to answer one too." His son looked up at him with a frown marring his face. "I'll stay completely away from anything you're too uncomfortable to talk about, but you still have to answer a question. Will you do it?"

Kakashi regarded his father with a cautious eye before nodding. It seemed innocent enough and he knew the man wasn't going to leave 'til he asked. It also worked in Kakashi's advantage. He'd never admit it out loud, but he had several questions burning on the tip of his tongue that he wanted to ask the man who abandoned him. He just refused to ask earlier because he didn't want to seem needy to the man looking at him with happiness shining so clearly in his eyes.

"I get to ask the first question?" At Sakumo's nod, Kakashi chewed on the inside of his lip as he tried to decide what to ask. He figured there was a catch to this game. He wondered if Sakumo was going to match his questions based on their content. If he asked a question about Kazan, would Sakumo ask a question about Konoha? Frowning slightly, Kakashi decided it was best to go on and ask rather than sit there staring at each other. "Where am I?"

"That's an easy one. You're in Kazangakure No Sato, the Village Hidden in the Volcanoes."

Kakashi nodded. "That explains the volcanoes."

Sakumo chuckled and resisted the urge to ruffle Kakashi's hair. "Yes, those are kind of important to us." Sakumo thought long and hard about what he was going to ask before deciding on asking one of the questions Yoshi asked him after the boy was first brought into the village. "Yoshi said you were wearing a mask when they found you. Why were you wearing a mask?"

Kakashi remained silent for a few minutes. Sakumo saw a flash of something pass over his son's face as he looked down at the white sheets bunched up at the end of the bed. "I didn't want to look like you."

It hurt to hear such a statement coming from his son's mouth. Once upon a time he had taken great pride in the fact that his son looked so much like him. Now he realized how much of a burden that must have been for his son, to look like the man that betrayed Konoha. "Oh. I understand."

His son only shrugged as he sat up straighter in the bed and brought his knees up to his chest. Kakashi's eye roamed the room before landing on the window. "What's up with that sky out there?"

Sakumo grinned as he held out a hand for Kakashi to take. When the boy finally took the hand, Sakumo helped him over to the window and pointed towards the sky. "It's a phenomenon unlike any other. It's a protective covering over the village that shields Kazan from prying eyes, but also allows light and rain in to sustain us. Legend claims that a group of magical beings saved the village from flowing lava, using the lava to create the dome. Supposedly, this is where chakra was first used giving birth to the first ninja."

"Strange."

"Indeed it is; now, let's get you back in bed so I can ask my question." He helped Kakashi back into the bed and waited 'til the boy settled down before taking a deep breath in preparation. "How did you get here, Kakashi?"

"Your guards brought me here." The boy could barely keep his lips from twitching up into a smile as he saw Sakumo's glare. Coughing away his laughter, Kakashi answered and tried not to think about Orochimaru. "Mission gone wrong."

Annoyance flashed across Sakumo's face, but he didn't say anything. Kakashi hadn't broken the rules, yet he had answered the question Sakumo asked. "Okay, your turn."

Kakashi thought long and hard about his next question before deciding that he wasn't patient enough to beat around the bush any longer. "Why did you fake your death and leave Konoha?"

The unsaid 'and me' hung between the two as Sakumo's eyes widened in surprise before darkening with memories. He honestly hadn't expected his son to go straight for such an important question. He expected at least a few more nonsense questions before the boy started prying for real information. "That's a tough question to answer, Kakashi."

"Fine then, don't answer it."

"Hold up, I can answer it, but you're going to have to listen and believe everything I say."

At Kakashi's nod, Sakumo began his tale. "I was weak and cowardly after your mother died. A part of me wanted to join her, but the other part of me knew I couldn't leave you at such a young age. As I'm sure you can remember, I turned to missions and training to kill my grief, but it was never enough. When the Hokage started cutting back my missions, someone came to me with an offer."

Sakumo looked up and locked eyes with Kakashi. "Danzo offered me the missions I thought I needed in exchange for joining his ROOT organization. It went well for a while, that is 'til I lost myself so deep in the killing and bloodshed that I forgot about you. I left ROOT, but Danzo set me up with that failed mission. After my punishment was given, I knew I couldn't continue the way I was, so I left and eventually ended up here. I've regretted leaving you every day since then."

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it as he pondered over everything he'd heard from his father and from Orochimaru. Danzo was a vile creature and it seemed like his claws caused more damage than he originally thought. Kakashi was at a loss as to what to do or think. He had seen the Hokage's seal on the scroll in Orochimaru's hideout, so he knew the snake wasn't lying about that.

So was Danzo truly an evil person?

The silver haired ANBU closed his eyes as he thought about Danzo's plans. The man had the daimyo's daughter killed so he could take over. Had that already happened? Was Danzo now ruler of Fire Country? All those questions buzzing around in his brain made his head throb.

"You okay, Kakashi?"

He snapped his eyes open to see Sakumo looking over him worriedly. Kakashi knew he couldn't go back to Konoha. The bottom line was that Danzo had sent him to his death and would most likely kill him upon returning. He had no choice but to rely on the man in front of him and that thought scared Kakashi. He didn't know if he was ready to trust Sakumo yet.

"I'm fine." Kakashi knew he needed to get his mind away from the Danzo situation for now. It wasn't the time for him to figure all of it out. "How well known is Kazan?"

"Not very well known at all or at least to major villages. We're trying to build up a strong shinobi force before introducing ourselves to the shinobi nations." He looked over at Kakashi with a frown on his face. "Mostly Kazan is only talked about in hushed whispers as a place to escape, a place for a new beginning. Which brings me to my next question, Sarutobi Hiruzen contacted us a few weeks ago. How bad is Konoha underneath Danzo's rule?"

Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek as he thought about his answer to that question. Was it wise to simply tell Sakumo anything just because the man claimed to have a letter from the Sandaime? Deep down inside Kakashi's heart, he knew he was more loyal to the Sandaime than he was to the Godaime. The Sandaime never had his radius snapped just for showing up late to a meeting. "I won't answer that question, until I see the letter from the Sandaime."

"Fine by me, but I get to ask another question. What happened to Minato?"

The name echoed in Kakashi's mind as all those memories came back to him. The pain he felt watching Minato sacrifice himself to save Konoha by sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto. Naruto, that very name caused Kakashi's heart to stop. His chest tightened to the point where it was difficult to breath. He had forgotten about Naruto. He couldn't stay in Kazan; he needed to get back to Konoha for Naruto.

Sakumo leaned back as Kakashi suddenly started trying to get out of bed. "Where are you going?"

Kakashi didn't answer, only reached to the end of the bed and began pulling bloody clothing out 'til he found the porcelain mask wrapped in his mesh undershirt. He ignored the horrified look on his father's face as he realized what that mask meant and only focused on pulling out his weapons. He needed to leave and now.

"Kakashi? Where are you going?"

The silver haired boy only stepped out of bed and ignored the twinge of pain that traveled through his body.

"Kakashi?"

"I have to go back to Konoha."

Sakumo blinked at the sudden change in Kakashi. He was almost panicky. "Kakashi, I won't stop you from going back, but you're in no shape to travel right now. Your chakra is still too low and your injuries aren't fully healed. You need to stay here."

"No. I have to go back, now."

Sakumo reached for Kakashi and gently wrapped his fingers around the smaller wrist. "Konoha can wait for you to heal. What's so important that you must go back now?"

Kakashi tugged his arm away harshly and glared at the silver haired man. "I have to go back for Naruto."

The older man raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Fishcake? We have that here too."

Kakashi felt hysterical, why didn't his father understand? "Naruto, Sensei's child. I have to go back for him."

Sakumo's eyes softened, "I'm sure the village is taking very good care of Naruto. He'll be fine 'til you heal."

The silver haired boy shook his head rapidly as he attempted to leave the room again. "You don't understand, you don't understand anything."

Kakashi knew he needed to get back to Konoha. He could practically hear Orochimaru hiss in his ear. _That jinchūriki of yours that you're so attached to is going to be turned into the perfect weapon._ The thought of little Naruto being turned into a weapon caused Kakashi's body to dully throb with anguish.

How could he let this happen? How could he forget?

Sakumo grabbed Kakashi's arm while he was staring off into space and forcibly guided his son back to his bed. The boy struggled, but he was no match for his much heavier father. Once Kakashi finally calmed down, Sakumo forced his son to look at him. "Kakashi, tell me what's going on. I'll help you in any way I can, but you've got to talk to me."

Kakashi's eye widened before closing. He didn't know where to start. He knew starting with Minato's death wasn't nearly enough to explain the situation. He would need to start with Uchiha Obito's death and explain his eye and the power he wielded because of it.

He took a few deep breaths before opening both eyes, showing his father the gifted Sharingan. "It all starts with the mission to Kannabi Bridge."

* * *

*insert dramatic music* Finally, he remembers Naruto! The poor baby, who knows what kind of horrible things Danzo has submitted him to! I'm just glad Sakumo and Kakashi are getting passed the 'glare and stare' stage. Though I do find myself upset with Kakashi for denying his father a hug. Oh well, Sakumo does deserve it.

I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter and I hope that it won't be another three months before the next one is uploaded. ^_^

'Til next time,

'Rayne


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